NEW YORK — If you are in need of complex spine surgery, there is a new option for state-of-the-art, spine care at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in NYC. The Complex Spine & Scoliosis Center (CSSC) is designed to give patients an easier recovery and a better overall experience thanks to its team of expert physicians dedicated to treating complex spine deformities and scoliosis through cutting-edge surgical approaches, patient-centered care and innovative research.
“What makes our new center unique is that we offer a ‘one stop shop’ where a patient can be seen by a surgeon and other experts as needed, get updated imaging and other tests, receive a diagnosis and be given a treatment plan tailored to their specific needs all on the same day,” says Han Jo Kim, MD, director of the new center and HSS spine surgeon. He adds that other centers could take weeks or even months to line up all the necessary appointments and provide a care plan recommendation.
[Photo above: Han Jo Kim, MD, Spine Surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS)]
Spine care at the CSSC is bolstered by a combination of highly specialized experts across multiple specialties and a decade of HSS-led research on advanced surgical techniques and recovery pathways. This has helped them transform the most challenging spine surgeries into much more straightforward operations with lower complication rates and faster recovery times.
“We have shortened the time it takes to do these surgeries, reduced complications, decreased patients’ length of stay in the hospital and shortened their recovery time, allowing patients to get back to what they love most,” says Dr. Kim.
The range of specialties the CSSC offers include anesthesiology, infectious disease, interventional radiology, metabolic bone, neurology, pain management, physical therapy, physiatry, and spine surgery. Care navigators help make the care experience easier by guiding patients through next steps, coordinating appointments and when possible, arranging visits with the appropriate physicians and receive any necessary imaging on the same day.
“We are integrating clinical triage so we can get the right patient to the right physician the first time for the care they need, as well as ensure a smooth experience for the patient and the physicians involved,” says HSS spine surgeon Andrew Sama, MD, co-chief of HSS Spine.
This streamlined approach is particularly helpful for the over 1,000 patients who travel to HSS annually from out of state or out of the country to see HSS surgeons, nearly 500 of whom receive surgery here.
“We want to meet patients where they are, and if they’re traveling a far distance, it’s especially important to make the most of their time here,” says HSS spine surgeon Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, MBA, co-chief of HSS Spine.
CSSC care is available to adult and pediatric patients at HSS locations in Manhattan, Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey, and Connecticut. “HSS has invested a lot into our regional sites so that we can bring complex spine care to the communities we serve,” adds Dr. Qureshi. This builds on the recently opened multidisciplinary Spine Center in Paramus, which expands access to world-class spine care through a collaborative approach and state-of-the-art facilities.”
