[billethkid]

I did a search on Gulf Coast Spinal Institute and doctors Ronzo and Bono.

After a fair amount of research I concluded there are no others who "specialize" in the non invasive procedure.

I had my MRIs done and consulted with Bono. Diagnosed with a ruptured disc in the lumbar area of the spine.

I am impressed with Dr. Bono. Their facility in Tampa is state of the art and specifically designed for non invasive spinal procedures.

The bad news was because their facility does not meet medicare guidelines....their facility is too specific....there are some costs that are out of pocket that would not be at a hospital (with standard open surgery).
Estimated cost.....$13,000.

That is a lot of money however if it does everything as advertised and the procedure is not available anywhere else.....one has to give the option due consideration.

Any others experienced with these doctors and costs.

Anybody aware of any other organization that does the non invasive procedure?

[delima2000]

What about the facility in spring hill? I know two people that went there and had dr Bono do the procedure and medicare,paid for it. I Better check that out because my husband is seeIng dr.bono on Thursday to see if he can do something for him.

[Mudder]

Think about going there and paying all that money really hard. Most, not all, of their patients who have had great long term success are younger than 60. Much depends on your age, overall health, etc...as to how you will do with their services. Truth is only a small percentage of people with herniated disks actually get long term pain free living. I do know someone who was totally pain free for 2 years after going there, but then...Bam...that same old disk acted up again. I for one decided to take the route of exercise and a small change in activities and intensity to keep my three herniated disks 95% pain free. If you decide to be treated there I wish you good luck and pain free living.

[billethkid]

Originally Posted by delima2000

What about the facility in spring hill? I know two people that went there and had dr Bono do the procedure and medicare,paid for it. I Better check that out because my husband is seeIng dr.bono on Thursday to see if he can do something for him.

They only have one surgical center that is in Springhill/Tampa some where. If you go to their website they do have a collage of insurance they take and medicare is not listed. If you/he are anticpating medicare to pay you/he will find the same as I did....

[PattyPan1]

Hi,

My husband is having surgery in about 4 hours with Dr. Bono, we are going to Oak Hill Hospital for the procedure and they cover Medicare with a night stay over. I can let you know the results.

[asianthree]

So what procedure are they doing

[billethkid]

Expenses by the doctor at the offices is covered by medicare.

Doctors expenses for the surgery are covered.
Facility fees for the BioSpine Center are not covered. They have applied for medicare approval but do not have it at this time.

[billethkid]

for others who may be interested in the outcome of my pursuit of medicare or not regarding Dr. Ronzo and Dr. Bono and the BioSpine Institute.

I just talked to a representaitve of Dr. Bono regarding where surgeries are done and what is covered by medicare or not.

Until recently they have been sheduling their surgeries at Oak Hill hospital and everything done there was/is covered by medicare.

They have notified Oak Hill they are no longer performing there effective sometime in March which is how far out they are booked.

The new facility is BioSpine where all future surgeries will be done. Dr. Bono is a medicare approved surgeon and his fees will be paid. The facility is not (yet) medicare approved and has to be paid by the patient.

And as stated in my original post Dr. Bono said it would run around $13,000 for a lumbar laminectomy.

I was also told they are hopeful to be an approved facility by year end....but did not know for sure.

So yes there are some who have had surgery by these docs that was paid for by medicare. And no it will not be paid for any done at their new facility BioSpine.

For a point a interest Ronzo and Bono are the top two surgeons in the USA in the number of non invasive surgeries performed. They are in the top 5 in the USA for outcome.

[Carla B]

May I ask how noninvasive differs from invasive. Did you look at Ocala Neurosurgical? I know someone who had an invasive spinal fusion at Ocala in the cervical area and a spinal fusion and laminectomy on L4 and L5 in another location. Both were quite successful.

[blueash]

Do I understand that these surgeons had a working agreement where all your costs were covered including their entire fee and the separate fee to a facility which they don't own was covered... and now they have built their own facility which will allow them to also collect the facility fee as well as the surgical fee? And that they are opening that new facility before they have cleared the requirements of the most common insurance with which they need to deal? And that as well all know insurance companies negotiate a much lower charge for the facility than what the non-insured are charged so in this time before approval they will make even more as no write off?

Anyone out there who had the surgery at Oak Hill, what was your facility fee after the insurance discount?

If you want this surgery and cost is a concern

1. Ask for an Oak Hill date when one becomes available. There are always patients who cancel at the last minute or fail their pre-op EKG or whatever. Be ready to fill in

2. Negotiate. Yes you can. The 13K is the asking price. You can be sure that they will not be getting anything near that once the Medicare discount kicks in.

3. Wait until they are approved.

[blueash]

A google search using minimally invasive spine surgery Florida (it is not NON invasive) will provide you will the names of many other Florida physicians doing the procedure. I reviewed Dr. Frank Bono's website after I was unable to find a single article he had written using google scholar. On his website he gives some statistics for his success and complication rates. They claim that

Less than 10% of all spine surgeons perform the "true" minimally invasive surgery. Know your surgeon – experience matters

Our infection rate is less than 1%, just ask Consumer Reports

I have no idea what they mean by "true". I can't find any documentation that they have done this procedure more than anyone else in the country although it may be true. That either means they are the most active practice (good), or they are doing it to everyone who walks into the office as opposed to being selective with operative candidates (bad).

The Consumer Reports link says that Citrus Hill Hospital (where they are leaving) is top ranked in Medicare data for low rates of death and extended hospital stays in spine surgery. From the link provided there is no mention of infection rates and all spine surgeries are included not just those by this doctor group nor just minimally invasive. However, if we accept their infection rate as accurate, is that better than other surgeons as their pride would suggest?

Moreover, minimally invasive spinal procedures seem to be associated with a much lower infection rate than open procedures (0.5 %)
http://journal.frontiersin.org/artic...014.00007/full

So less than 1% is true for everyone nationwide

And, just one of my things, I am unhappy to see anyone violating the well known Consumer Reports warning against any use of their ratings for advertising.

"Consumer Reports' "No Commercial Use Policy" prohibits the use of our content in advertising. We carefully monitor the use of our name and ratings to preserve our reputation as a not-for-profit source of information that is neither influenced nor associated with any commercial interest. The policy prevents companies from using our name and ratings to promote their own sales or to disparage the products or services of their competitors"

none of this is to suggest that having this surgery by this doctor is anything other than a great choice. I have no idea. But the marketing seems too slick for my taste.

[delima2000]

It is not citrus hills hospital it is oak hills hospital.

[blueash]

Originally Posted by delima2000

It is not citrus hills hospital it is oak hills hospital.

Yes, my error, Which then leads to the question if their website refers to surgery at Citrus Hills hospital done by this group, would the OP have the option of having surgery there in that Medicare approved place or are they leaving all the approved places where they practiced?

I am wondering what the procedure might be to get Medicare approval for an ambulatory surgical center.. ?

[billethkid]

minimally invasive by Bono and Ronzo is operating through a one inch long incision. Minimal blood loss. No cutting of muscle tissue. Almost no infection. Out the door the same day. Back to driving a car after 24 hours. Swing a golf club after one week.

Traditional surgery is a minimum of 6 inches long by 4 inch wide opening in the body to get at the same spot. Significantly higher infection exposure. Higher blood loss. Two to 4 days in the hospital. Weeks of recovery with physical therapy.

Not selling anything here. I have been researching the options for some time.

Laser repair is not the same as minimally invasive and is more invasive.

If one needs to have a spinal repair surgery (or any other surgery for that matter) then they become very motivated to spend the time doing the research and understanding all the options.

And if one is fortunate enough to have a problem that is not urgent then take the time......like maybe wait for BioSpine Institute to get medicare approval....which they will.

[asianthree]

Well just my two cents but size of the incision doesn't mean a whole lot compared to that infection rate. A good OR staff is what causes less infection right not the size of an incision. I have seen an incision from stem to stern without any infection whatsoever. And have seen a 1 inch incision come back infected. Well trained staff is your key to no bring back