Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/224832
Q &A Stefano Sinicropi, md, FAAOS midWEST SPiNE iNSTiTuTE Q What new development excites you for its potential effect on patient care? A: One very exciting development is the rapidly advancing field of telemedicine, including video-conferencing and online patient evaluations. It has always been the philosophy of Midwest Spine Institute to reach out to communities across the state to provide expert care, but there are limits secondary to travel time and general feasibility. During the next several years, Midwest Spine will be able to reach out to more communities throughout the area utilizing telemedicine, which facilitates the same level of expert review and treatment. Only those patients requiring advanced procedures or surgery would then need to travel to one of our affiliate facilities. This will give providers and patients, especially those in rural locations, more choices for care and greater access to specialty providers. Q What are some of the things you can do for patients that you were not able to do five years ago? A: One of the most important changes in spine surgery has been the dramatic expansion of our ability to perform motionsparing surgery (total disc replacement) on a much broader population of patients ABouT DR. SiNiCRoPi STEFANO SINICROPI, MD, FAAOS, is an orthopedic spine surgeon with Midwest Spine Institute. His passion for helping patients return to an active life is evident in testimonials from his satisfied patients. Dr. Sinicropi treats both adult and pediatric trauma, deformities, scoliosis, myelopathy, chronic conditions, infections and tumors. He is trained in the latest technology in minimally invasive spinal surgery and artificial disc replacement. Dr. Sinicropi completed his orthopedic residency at Columbia University in New York, after which he completed the Kenton D. Leatherman Fellowship at the Spine Institute in Louisville, Ky., a Level I trauma center, where he gained significant experience treating major cervical, thoracic, lumbar and spinal cord injuries. 28 | Twin Cities MD News ■ MdNewS.CoM