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welcome to
Influence Healthcare

Influence Healthcare is the first vertically integrated healthcare network focused on leveraging the knowledge and involvement of physicians to maximize the value of care.

The core thesis of Influence Healthcare is that physicians are uniquely qualified to influence the value of healthcare services. No other providers, no administrators and no payers have the knowledge, expertise and hands on patient interaction required to make the myriad decisions necessary to deliver the highest quality care at the lowest possible cost. Influence recognizes the physician is the most critical component of the healthcare system, harnesses physicians’ potential to improve care and compensates them accordingly.

Influence Healthcare is initially focusing on leveraging spine surgeons’ active involvement in the entire episode of care to deliver the highest quality care at the lowest possible price.

Premium Pay for Premium Care

Influence Healthcare contracts directly with payers for 90-day care episodes. Influence in turn contracts with hospitals, ASCs, vendors & spine surgeons.

In the typical bundled care payment model, surgeons have the least amount of influence and therefore get the smallest percentage of the bundled payment. Influence Healthcare presents a new paradigm. At Influence, the surgeon is recognized for having the greatest influence on the delivery of the highest quality care at the lowest possible price. It is not an easy task for surgeons to manage all aspects of a care episode, but it is the right path for patients and the healthcare system. In the Influence model, the extraordinary effort and dedication Influence surgeons devote to the care of their patients is appropriately recognized with enhanced compensation.

For the Influence spine fusion program, surgeon reimbursement for patients covered by commercial insurance companies generally starts at 150% of the current contract rates each surgeon has with those insurance companies. In exchange for higher pay, Influence surgeons agree to take an active leadership role in coordinating patient care throughout the episode of care and reducing costs while maintaining or improving quality.

This is the hallmark of Influence Healthcare. Reinventing the healthcare system by recognizing the value of the physicians’ engagement and paying them fairly for that value.

The Influence
Spine Surgeon Network

Influence surgeons are passionate about taking a proactive role in all aspects of a 90-day care episode. This goes far beyond the diagnosis and surgical intervention.

Influence surgeons partner with their patients to not only focus on the optimal treatment plan but to make sure:

  • Out of pocket costs are minimized,
  • The patient and their extended support network of family and friends are fully educated on expectations both before and after surgery,
  • The optimal surgical facility for the procedure is chosen,
  • The invasiveness of every procedure is minimized,
  • Unnecessary costs of implants and technology are eliminated,
  • The optimal recovery path is followed, and
  • Patient communications & at home visits are managed.

The job of the Influence surgeon does not stop until the patient has completed their path to recovery.

Only the surgeon is in a position to make the critical decisions required to optimize the value of care for each patient, but to do this efficiently and at scale, the surgeon needs support. Influence Healthcare provides that support in the form of:

  • Software tools to optimize communication & patient flow through the care episode,
  • High quality ancillary care providers to facilitate at home or community based support,
  • Process and outcomes measurement tools for constant improvement,
  • Ongoing education and training to refine skills and utilization of value added platforms,
  • Superior reimbursement to recognize the unique expertise and value the surgeon brings to the care episode.
  • Assistance in selection of implants, instrumentation sets, navigation, neuro-monitoring and patient flow by peer-directed development teams (described below)

Activities PERFORMED
BY Development TEAMS

SPINE IMPLANT EVALUATION TEAM: Surgeons on this team will evaluate a series of generic implant systems for basic fusion cases such as ACDF, PCF, TLIF and ALIF. The objective is to use a series of generic implant systems for 1-2 months each (where clinically appropriate) and rank the systems to provide data for the selection of up to three vendors as preferred Influence Healthcare vendors. To be eligible for the spine implant evaluation team, surgeons must be able to select new implant systems for use in the hospitals where they practice. Surgeons will be compensated for their evaluation services at a FMV consulting rate. Surgeons on the evaluation team will have priority for joining the spine implant design teams described below.

SPINE IMPLANT DESIGN TEAMS: Design teams will optimize the implants and instrumentation sets chosen to support basic spine fusion cases while also working to identify generic implant systems applicable for more advanced lateral approach or complex deformity cases. These design teams will create modifications and supplemental instrumentation where needed and may design entirely new systems when adequate generic options are not available. Design teams will be compensated consistent with FMV for their design services through consulting agreements that may include royalties where appropriate.  Priority for placement on these implant design teams will be given to surgeons who participate within the spine implant evaluation team.

NAVIGATION & MONITORING TEAMS: Design teams will evaluate and/or develop cost effective navigation and intraoperative neuromonitoring solutions with a focus on facilitating the transition of more cases to the ASC setting. Design teams will be compensated consistent with FMV for their design services through consulting agreements that may include royalties where appropriate. Priority for placement on these navigation and monitoring design teams will be given to surgeons who participate within the spine implant evaluation team.

PATIENT FLOW TEAMS: These teams will evaluate and/or develop protocols and technology solutions to streamline patient flow through a 90-day care episode for spine fusion. Patient flow teams will be active across all aspects of a patient’s journey. Team members will develop protocols and evaluate technologies to maximize the use of ASCs, reduce the length of hospital stays, minimize the use of SNFs, accelerate patient recovery to reduce length of stays at SNFs, improve PT & rehab compliance, and prevent readmissions. Members of these teams will be compensated consistent with FMV for their evaluation and development services through consulting agreements that may include royalties where appropriate.

Meet The Team

Jeff Thramann - MD

Jeff Thramann, MD is a spine fellowship trained neurosurgeon and serial healthcare entrepreneur. Jeff went to college at West Point, earned his medical degree from Cornell and completed his neurosurgical training and spine fellowship at the Barrow Neurological Institute. He transitioned into the business side of medicine in 2008 after launching Lanx, an innovative spine implant company that was ultimately sold to Biomet.

Jeff is also the founder of U.S. Radiosurgery and ProNerve. U.S. Radiosurgery became a leading provider of CyberKnife treatment centers in the U.S. before it was sold to Alliance Imaging, a public company on the NYSE. ProNerve was an intraoperative neuromonitoring company that was sold to a private equity roll up as their platform acquisition.

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Jeff Thramann - MD

Jeff Thramann, MD is a spine fellowship trained neurosurgeon and serial healthcare entrepreneur. Jeff went to college at West Point, earned his medical degree from Cornell and completed his neurosurgical training and spine fellowship at the Barrow Neurological Institute. He transitioned into the business side of medicine in 2008 after launching Lanx, an innovative spine implant company that was ultimately sold to Biomet.

Jeff is also the founder of U.S. Radiosurgery and ProNerve. U.S. Radiosurgery became a leading provider of CyberKnife treatment centers in the U.S. before it was sold to Alliance Imaging, a public company on the NYSE. ProNerve was an intraoperative neuromonitoring company that was sold to a private equity roll up as their platform acquisition.

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Jeff Thramann - MD

Jeff Thramann, MD is a spine fellowship trained neurosurgeon and serial healthcare entrepreneur. Jeff went to college at West Point, earned his medical degree from Cornell and completed his neurosurgical training and spine fellowship at the Barrow Neurological Institute. He transitioned into the business side of medicine in 2008 after launching Lanx, an innovative spine implant company that was ultimately sold to Biomet.

Jeff is also the founder of U.S. Radiosurgery and ProNerve. U.S. Radiosurgery became a leading provider of CyberKnife treatment centers in the U.S. before it was sold to Alliance Imaging, a public company on the NYSE. ProNerve was an intraoperative neuromonitoring company that was sold to a private equity roll up as their platform acquisition.

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 Spine Surgeon Registration

anesthesia recommendation

Please write in to recommend anesthesia design team members to develop protocols for ASC care that support expeditious discharge to home without readmissions.

 
 

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