[June 07, 2016]

Laser Spine Institute Selected to Participate in National Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

Laser Spine Institute, the leader in minimally invasive spine surgery, will join 20 other Patient-Family Advisory Councils across the nation in a patient-centered outcomes research project, as part of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's (PCORI) $249,000 Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award given to Planetree, Inc.

Laser Spine Institute is the only outpatient ambulatory surgery center to have been selected by Planetree as a project partner. Last year, Laser Spine Institute's Philadelphia facility achieved gold-level Planetree Designation for Excellence in Patient-Centered Care, making the organization the first ambulatory surgery center in the world to receive a designation from Planetree.

"We're honored to be able to expand our relationship with Planetree and to have been selected as the only outpatient ambulatory surgery center partner to participate in the project," said David Pillsbury, Chief Executive Officer, Laser Spine Institute. "The patient has always been the core of our care model. The data and feedback collected by our Patient-Family Advisory Council has directly influenced the way Laser Spine Institute administers care, and has helped facilitate our facility design and overall patient experience."

In January 2016, a team at Planetree, Inc was approved for the award to support understanding of how Patient-Family Advisory Councils engage with research. The purpose of this project is to develop knowledge of how the groups receive and make use of patient-centered outcomes research, and to co-develop a tool that will support their awareness and use in the future. Part of the award will help fund focus groups with Laser Spine Institute's 46-person Patient-Family Advisory Council, which will participate in virtual feedback sessions.

"Health care organizations nationwide are using Patient-Family Advisory Councils as a foundational structure to engage patients and family members as partners in quality and process improvement and to align the organization's strategic priorities with what matters most to patients," said Dr. Jill Harrison, Planetree Director of Research, who will lead the engagement project at Planetree. "Despite this increasing engagement with Patient-Family Advisory Councils, little is known about how these groups receive or make use of patient-centered outcomes research to inform their understanding, decision making and recommendations to the health care organizations they advise."

For more information, visit http://news.laserspineinstitute.com/.

About Laser Spine Institute

Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Laser Spine Institute currently operates seven regional surgery centers across the country, in Tampa, Florida; Scottsdale, Arizona; Philadelphia; Oklahoma City; Cleveland; St. Louis and Cincinnati. Laser Spine Institute has helped more than 60,000 patients find relief from debilitating neck and back pain caused by spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, pinched nerves, bone spurs, bulging/herniated discs, sciatica and other chronic conditions. Ninety-eight percent of patients say they would refer a friend or family member to have surgery at Laser Spine Institute. Additionally, Laser Spine Institute has been repeatedly recognized by Voyance Health as a National APEX Quality Award winner for outstanding patient satisfaction and reports an enterprise patient satisfaction rate of 97 percent. In 2015, the company's Philadelphia facility received Gold-level designation for excellence in patient-centered care from Planetree, a mission-based, not-for-profit organization that partners with health care organizations around the world and across the care continuum to transform how care is delivered.

Laser Spine Institute has been named a top employer by Modern Healthcare, Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Bay Business Journal, Philly.com and okc.BIZ and a Most Admired Company by BestCompaniesAZ. Opening in Tampa in 2005 with one operating room and nine employees, Laser Spine Institute now has more than 1,000 corporate and health care professionals across the country.

About PCORI

PCORI is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund comparative effectiveness research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence needed to make better-informed health and healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160607006550/en/

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