On January 1, 2014 three specialty groups — Precision Spine Care, Dr. Jonathan Blau and Texas Pain — combined their resources to create a regional center of excellence for spine care and pain management under the name Precision Spine Care.
The merger combines the expertise of three fellowship-trained pain specialists within Texas Pain; physical medicine specialist Jonathan Blau, MD; along with three spine-specialized neurosurgeons and a second physical medicine specialist to create a fully comprehensive spine and pain center for the East Texas region in 2014.
With the merger, effective January 1, 2014, Precision Spine Care now includes a multidisciplinary team with two physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) physicians who specialize in the nonsurgical management of back and neck pain; three fellowship-trained pain medicine physicians; and three neurospine surgeons.
The merger enables the group practice to integrate more services for the convenience of the patient including diagnostics, an internal pharmacy, lab services and therapy — all under one roof — so the patient no longer has to drive around town to multiple locations for care, prescriptions, lab tests and therapy.
“Our group decided that to improve the care of spine and pain problems, we needed a team approach that emphasizes non-surgical treatment options before spine surgery,” emphasizes Dr. Charles Gordon. “By having a team of complementary specialists we improve coordination of care among a team of specialists working together for a patient.”
The merger enables the group to position itself as the regional destination for spine and pain across East Texas and Northern Louisiana, explains Dr. Aaron Calodney, pain specialist. “Health care reform presents a huge burden for specialists,” explains Dr. Calodney. “By merging our three complementary practices, we can speed the integration of electronic medical records which tightens the communication about a patient’s case.”
By combining spine and pain specialists, Precision Spine Care now meets the credentialing criteria to be included in SpineCenterNetwork.com — the only national listing of credentialed spine centers. This accolade makes Precision Spine Care one of only two spine centers in the State of Texas to meet the credentialing criteria of having board-certified spine surgeons; physical medicine physicians; spine therapists; an emphasis on non-surgical capabilities; and report clinical outcomes.
“Our three specialty groups have always worked together on patient cases” adds Dr. Jonathan Blau, physical medicine specialist who provides care of back and neck pain, including spinal injections. “This merger helps us improve patient care and achieve efficiencies and economies of scale. We will also be able to improve feedback to the primary care physicians who refer us patients from across East Texas.”
The merger will also improve communication with payors. “In 2014, Precision Spine Care will track clinical outcomes, from use of pills, patient satisfaction, and return to function with the goal of publishing a clinical outcome report card for employers and health insurance plans,” adds Dr. Gordon. “We have already begun incorporating nonsurgical treatment options and prescribing home exercise programs. This along with the capabilities of internal diagnostics and injection therapy, as well as a new internal pharmacy and lab, really presents some exciting advances for 2014.”
Patients needing prescriptions and refills for for their pain medication will also benefit from a new internal lab at Precision Spine Care that can perform the necessary urinalysis screens required by state authorities for pain medications before refills can be prescribed. This lab technology speeds the time involved to refilling a patient’s prescription.
What makes Precision Spine Care different from other spine centers is its nonsurgical approach to back and neck problems. For instance, many practices that are limited to spine surgeons are naturally biased toward the use of spine surgery. At Precision Spine Care, however, there are two physical medicine MDs who specialize in finding nonsurgical treatment options for many patients.
Under one roof Precision Spine Care has the ability to perform X-rays, MRI, injection therapy, and EMGs. Because we provide all the necessary diagnostic testing and treatment in one place, we eliminate the need for multiple referrals, delayed care and overall confusion.
