3 stories this morning, for surgeons and the people who support them.
- Alphatec recalls SafeOp patient interfaces over neuromonitoring dropouts, ships a software update — Voluntary recall and software update on specific SafeOp patient interface units used for automated SSEP and EMG monitoring in lateral and posterior spinal surgery. Addresses isolated software communication interruptions during prolonged cases — the exposure being undetected femoral nerve irritation or root injury during transpsoas and posterior lumbar instrumentation. Source
- AAOS 2026: first study to quantify prior auth in elective spine finds delay without savings — Degenerative spine patients had surgery delayed with no cost saving to the payer. Follows the 2025 AAOS hip arthroplasty study, which found the same pattern plus lower preoperative functional scores. Source
- CMS creates three new MS-DRGs for Carlsmed's aprevo lumbar fusion, effective Oct 1 — The FY2027 Inpatient Final Rule establishes three new MS-DRGs carrying favorable hospital reimbursement for aprevo lumbar procedures. Carlsmed reported 57% year-over-year revenue growth in Q2 2026, 340bps of gross margin expansion, and a trained surgeon base up more than 60%. Source
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Narration is synthesized. Reporting and editorial judgement are ours, and every story above links to its source.