HSS was one of 18 organizations to make the list across nine sectors, joining organizations including New Balance, PwC, Morgan Stanley, Garmin, Adobe, and Cargill. Three healthcare organizations were included, with HSS the only hospital to be honored.

HSS was selected for its efforts to address workforce burnout through a comprehensive range of physical health resources, mental well-being support, and recovery-focused programs.

This achievement reflects the contributions of people across HSS who help create a healthier, more supportive workplace.

View the complete list here: https://www.fastcompany.com/91598529/the-corporate-wellness-innovators-2026

Pam comes to HSS from Main Line Health, where she has been Chief Human Resources Officer since 2021; she held that role previously at Saint Peter's Healthcare System and at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals. At Jefferson, she was the first functional leader hired to combine human resources across the university, the hospitals, and the physician practice plan. At Main Line, she built the organization's first comprehensive workforce strategic plan and helped that institution earn 'Great Place To Work' certification for five consecutive years.

HSS is excited to welcome Pam, who's expertise and leadership will help further our commitment to being the best place for all professionals in our field to advance their career and drive the future of musculoskeletal care.

The Hudson Yards location opened on July 13, expanding and relocating services from the former West Side-Sports Medicine Institute location. The Main Campus location opened on August 3. Together, they bring the HSS Ortho Now network to eight locations across the New York metropolitan area, including Main Campus on the Upper East Side, Midtown, Hudson Yards, Westport, Uniondale, White Plains, Stamford, and Paramus-Midland Ave, making it easier for patients to access specialized orthopedic care closer to home and work.

HSS Ortho Now provides patients ages 12 and older with immediate access to specialized orthopedic evaluation and treatment for musculoskeletal injuries and pain, with appointments often available within 72 hours. The service offers a convenient entry point into the HSS system, enabling patients to receive expert assessments by Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) who initiate an individualized treatment plan for patients. “Timely access to specialized orthopedic care is essential for patients experiencing a new injury or musculoskeletal pain, as it can significantly influence both the patient experience and clinical outcomes. The Ortho Now APPs and care team have established an efficient, high-quality model for delivering orthopedic care at HSS." said Stephanie Peralta, PA-C, MPAS, Clinical Director, Outpatient Clinical Programs at HSS. "With new Ortho Now locations at Main Campus and Hudson Yards, we're making it easier for patients to connect with expert orthopedic clinicians and begin the right care plan."

Through HSS Ortho Now, patients are evaluated by dedicated physician assistants and nurse practitioners specializing in orthopedic care. Providers assess symptoms and medical history, order X-rays or advanced imaging when clinically appropriate, establish a diagnosis and develop an individualized treatment plan. Following the visit, patients receive support from scheduling specialists and a dedicated team to help coordinate any necessary follow-up appointments.

HSS Ortho Now is an appointment-based service designed specifically for orthopedic injuries and pain. The program connects patients with clinicians who specialize in musculoskeletal conditions while providing seamless access to the broader network of HSS specialists, diagnostic imaging and rehabilitation services when additional care is needed.

Patients can schedule appointments online at hss.edu/now or by calling 833-477-7100. Visit the website for locations, hours and appointment availability.

U.S. News evaluated nearly 4,500 hospitals in 14 specialties. Hospital performance was assessed based on various measures, including patient outcomes, level of nursing care, patient-reported experience, and available technology such as computer-assisted orthopedic surgery. The methodology factored in data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, professional organizations, and medical specialists.

“We are proud to once again be recognized as a leader in orthopedics and rheumatology,” said HSS President and CEO Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA. “This distinction reflects the extraordinary expertise, dedication, and collaboration of the entire HSS team. For patients across the New York metropolitan region, it is also a powerful validation that the best orthopedic care in the country is available right here in their community. Through comprehensive musculoskeletal care, we help patients preserve mobility, enhance their quality of life, and extend their healthspan so they can continue doing what they need and love to do.”

“This recognition from U.S. News reflects HSS’s unwavering commitment to advancing musculoskeletal health through clinical excellence, innovation, and patient-centered care,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD, surgeon-in-chief and medical director of HSS. “Perhaps the greatest measure of our impact is the trust of patients who travel to HSS from across the country and around the world seeking care have placed in us. This distinction reflects our dedication to achieving exceptional outcomes and our belief that preserving movement is the foundation of longevity and quality of life.”

Patients come to HSS from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, often for both common and complex medical conditions or challenging surgeries requiring highly specialized care. As a global destination for orthopedic and rheumatologic care, HSS brings together world-renowned physicians, advanced treatment approaches, and multidisciplinary teams dedicated to delivering personalized, evidence-based care for patients of all ages and activity levels.

“Our rankings reflect the extraordinary expertise, dedication, and innovation of the physicians, scientists, researchers, and care teams who make HSS a leader in rheumatology,” said Anca D. Askanase, MD, MPH, Chair of the Department of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Rheumatology at HSS. “Through groundbreaking research, advanced therapies, and highly personalized care, we are helping to transform the lives of patients living with complex autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.”

“The pace of discovery in musculoskeletal medicine is accelerating at an unprecedented rate,” said Joel Press, MD, Physiatrist-in-Chief at HSS. “Advances in artificial intelligence, data science, and precision medicine are helping researchers uncover new insights faster and translate those discoveries into more effective, personalized care. With HSS’s singular focus on musculoskeletal health and unmatched depth of clinical expertise, we are uniquely positioned to turn innovation into meaningful improvements in outcomes for patients everywhere.”

As the world’s leading academic medical center specializing in musculoskeletal health, HSS maintains among the lowest hospital readmission rates for orthopedics in the nation, and among the lowest rates for infection and complications. HSS is the worlds most awarded hospital in orthopedics by Newsweek each year since the “World’s Best Specialized Hospitals” survey was introduced in 2020.

In 2025, HSS clinicians and surgeons provided specialized care to more than 258,016 patients with orthopedic or rheumatologic conditions, such as pain or injury to the back, neck, or joints; osteoarthritis; rheumatoid arthritis; lupus; scleroderma; and psoriatic arthritis. HSS performed more than 45,864 orthopedic surgical procedures in 2025.

HSS is the official hospital of and provides team physicians to more than 25 high-performing sports teams and leagues, including the New York Giants, New York Knicks, New York Liberty, Brooklyn Nets, New York Mets, New York Red Bulls, TCS New York City Marathon, National Basketball Players Association, Major League Pickleball, US Youth Soccer, and UFC. It is designated a Medical Center of Excellence by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

Lymphatic vessels act as communication highways, carrying signals from tissues to the immune system to alert it to infection, injury, or disease. When this system does not function properly, the body may struggle to fight infections, respond to vaccines, repair tissue, or control inflammation.

The new findings show that Langerhans cells play a key role during early life by helping lymphatic vessels grow and develop properly in the skin. This early “setup” has long-term consequences, influencing how well the immune system functions later in life.

“Our study shows that immune cells in the skin do much more than respond to threats—they help build the infrastructure the immune system depends on,” said senior author Theresa T. Lu, MD, PhD, who holds the St. Giles Chair for Research in the HSS Research Institute and is a member of Pediatric Rheumatology at HSS. “If this process is disrupted early in life, it can have lasting effects on immune health. Our results also underscore the critical role of skin health in regulating lymphatic vessel development and immune system function in health and disease.”

“These findings advance our understanding of how early-life biological processes influence long-term immune function,” explained JiHyun Sim, PhD, first author and Postdoctoral Fellow at HSS. “We are hoping to further understand if this physiologic process is disrupted to contribute to autoimmune disease.”

Key Findings

• Early-life development matters: Proper formation of lymphatic vessels in childhood is essential for strong immune responses in adulthood.
• New role for Langerhans cells: Beyond their known immune functions, these cells help guide the growth and programming of lymphatic vessels.
• Long-term impact: When Langerhans cells are reduced or impaired early in life, the immune system may be less effective later on.

Implications for Patients and Providers

The research suggests that conditions affecting skin health in early life—such as severe sunburn, burns, or certain autoimmune diseases like lupus—could interfere with Langerhans cells and, in turn, disrupt lymphatic development. This may contribute to weaker immune responses later in life, including reduced effectiveness of vaccines, increased susceptibility to infections, impaired healing, and potential autoimmune complications.

“These findings highlight the importance of protecting skin health early in life,” said Dr. Lu. “They also open the door to new approaches that could strengthen immune function by targeting the lymphatic system.”

A New Way of Thinking About Immune Health

The study adds to a growing body of evidence showing that early-life health and environmental factors can shape disease risk in adulthood. It also identifies a previously unknown mechanism by which immune cells influence tissue development—not just immune activation.

By uncovering how Langerhans cells regulate lymphatic vessel growth, researchers hope to pave the way for future strategies to improve immune responses and prevent disease across the lifespan.

Authors: JiHyun Sim, PhD, Richard Bell, PhD, Yurii Chinenov, PhD, Zhonghui Feng, PhD, Susan Chyou, BA, William D. Shipman, MD, PhD, Lionel Ivashkiv, MD, Theresa T. Lu, MD, PhD

The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, reveals that a subset of immune cells known as SPP1ʰⁱ macrophages work in tandem with structural cells and protein scaffolds to promote excessive tissue expansion in the joints of patients with RA.

RA is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of the synovium—the tissue lining the joints—leading to pain, swelling, and eventual damage to cartilage and bone. While current therapies largely focus on controlling inflammation, the mechanisms that drive the abnormal growth of synovial tissue—and its invasive portion, known as pannus, which erodes cartilage and bone—have remained poorly understood.

A New Model of Tissue Growth in RA

Using advanced spatial transcriptomics to analyze human tissue samples, the HSS research team discovered that SPP1ʰⁱmacrophages cluster within fibrin-rich niches in the synovium. Fibrin, a protein typically involved in blood clotting and wound healing, appears to act as a temporary scaffold that supports new tissue formation.

Within these niches, the macrophages were found to:

• break down fibrin scaffolds through enzymatic activity and cellular uptake;
• stimulate nearby fibroblasts, key structural cells, to proliferate; and
• promote tissue remodeling and expansion independent of traditional inflammatory pathways.

“This work suggests that rheumatoid arthritis is not only driven by inflammation, but also by dysregulated tissue repair processes,” said Laura Donlin, PhD, senior author and scientist at the HSS Research Institute. “We are seeing a coordinated interaction between immune cells, structural cells, and the extracellular matrix that fuels abnormal growth.”

Beyond Fibrosis: A Distinct Pathway

Interestingly, while SPP1ʰⁱmacrophages resemble cells involved in fibrotic diseases such as lung or liver fibrosis, the RA tissue environment lacks the dense collagen buildup characteristic of fibrosis. Instead, the researchers describe this process as “pro-generative” tissue remodeling, more closely resembling wound healing gone awry.

Therapeutic Implications

The findings also suggest that targeting SPP1ʰⁱmacrophages and their signaling pathways could represent a new therapeutic approach. The study highlights the role of IL-6 signaling in sustaining these cells, offering further insight into why IL-6–targeting therapies, already used in RA, may be particularly effective in certain patient populations.

“Current treatments focus on suppressing inflammation, but our findings point to additional pathways that drive disease progression,” said Dr. Donlin. “Targeting these tissue remodeling processes could open the door to more precise and effective therapies.”

Broader Impact

The study’s findings may extend beyond RA. Similar immune cell populations and fibrin-based remodeling processes have been implicated in other conditions, including interstitial lung disease, lupus, cancer, and traumatic injury, suggesting a broader role for this pathway in human disease.

Newsweek, in partnership with Statista, evaluated leading hospitals across seven care specialties: cancer, cardiac, endocrine, gastrointestinal, neurological, orthopedic and pulmonary. Rankings are based on a comprehensive methodology that includes a nationwide survey of medical professionals and hospital managers, patient experience data, patient-reported outcome measures, and specialty-specific safety and quality measures.

In another newly released Newsweek ranking, Lerner Children’s Pavilion at HSS was named among “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals” for pediatric orthopedics.

“When faced with a complex medical challenge, choosing the right hospital and specialist is one of the most important decisions patients and families can make,” said Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA, HSS president, CEO and surgeon-in-chief emeritus. “This recognition reflects the extraordinary expertise and dedication of our HSS colleagues, who are committed to delivering the highest standards of evidenced-based, compassionate patient care.”

“This honor underscores the clinical excellence and collaborative approach that define care at HSS,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD, surgeon-in-chief at HSS. “Our teams are continually advancing innovation, elevating patient outcomes, and providing highly individualized, expert care to every patient we serve.”

HSS is consistently ranked as a top hospital for the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions by leading ratings organizations. Patients travel to HSS from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, often seeking care for complex cases and specialized surgical procedures. The institution’s ongoing dedication to research, quality improvement, and knowledge-sharing continues to position HSS as a thought leader in musculoskeletal health.

The Industry Awards recognize one standout organization from each sector: the company whose work best demonstrates how data intelligence can drive breakthrough results, reshape operations and create new possibilities within their field. From a global bank unifying risk and finance data across regions to a hospital transforming how clinical data is ingested and reused, this year's winners show just how broad and deep that impact can be.

This year's program recognizes 10 winners spanning financial services, communications, health and life sciences, manufacturing, retail and CPG, energy and utilities, enterprise technology, public sector, digital-native businesses and excellence in cybersecurity. Together, they represent some of the most inventive and impactful uses of Databricks we've seen — and we're thrilled to celebrate each of them.

Without further ado, meet the 2026 Databricks Customer Awards Industry winners.

Financial Services Industry Award: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards and consumer finance. The bank is using data and AI to integrate risk, treasury and finance; harden cybersecurity; and modernize the digital experience for clients.

At the center of that transformation is a single Databricks lakehouse that brings SMBC's data together across regions — on one governed platform. Unity Catalog provides the bank with cross-region data sharing, lineage and access controls. Lakehouse runs analytics and AI at the scale a global bank requires, while holding the line on cost and complexity.

On that foundation, SMBC is using Genie and Agent Bricks to put trustworthy, data-driven intelligence directly in the hands of the business. The platform powers a chatbot for the Cash Management System, generates Early Warning Indicators for portfolio risk and is being extended into front-office credit memo workflows — turning analyst hours into minutes.

The results are measurable:

• Faster analytics and AI. Critical workloads — from reporting to risk signal generation — run on a consolidated, performance-tuned lakehouse instead of fragmented regional stacks.
• Lower run cost. Standardized data processing, centralized governance and active cost monitoring across dozens of production-serving endpoints keep spend predictable as usage grows.
• New revenue and risk levers. Credit memo automation, cash management self-service and Early Warning Indicators surface insight earlier.

These outcomes show how SMBC treats data as a strategic asset — operationalized every day across global teams to drive better, faster and more defensible decisions.

Communications, Media and Entertainment Industry Award: Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies is a digital networking services company that delivers the secure, high‑performance, intelligent connectivity enterprises require to achieve their AI ambitions. The company uses data and AI to give finance and operations teams faster, more consistent access to information.

In finance, Lumen brings together data from domains such as revenue, billing and network expense so teams can work from a shared view of the numbers. The company consolidates this data on the Databricks Platform. It introduces natural‑language agents that let employees ask questions in their daily tools and get governed, explainable answers without specialist skills.

On this foundation, Lumen:

• Improves visibility into revenue, billing and network expense.
• Extends agents to Enterprise Operations to inform contract discussions and vendor negotiations.

In Service Assurance, Lumen is making it easier to investigate and resolve network incidents that can affect critical customer workloads. A Lakehouse architecture, foundation models and multi-agent workflows provide a single conversational interface. In which teams can review service status and operational context, analyze tickets, review case history, run diagnostics and explore time to resolution in natural language. This approach is helping scale automation across service operations, with internal metrics showing 3 million+ AI-powered diagnostics, 35% ticket deflection and more than 100,000 AI-generated actions.

Health and Life Sciences Industry Award: Hospital for Special Surgery

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. For 16 consecutive years, it has been ranked #1 in orthopedics in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report — a distinction that reflects sustained excellence across clinical care, research and innovation.

Building on this foundation of leadership and impact, in June 2025, HSS launched an ambitious enterprise data transformation journey: to design and implement a modern data lakehouse on Databricks within an 18-month timeframe. The objective was not incremental improvement, but structural change, unifying a highly fragmented data ecosystem, strengthening governance at scale and enabling faster, more reliable decision-making across the enterprise.

Rather than following a traditional use case-driven data ingestion model, HSS adopted a fundamentally different strategy — full system ingestion. In practice, this required ingesting source systems in their entirety, rather than selectively extracting subsets of data tied to individual use cases. ERP, HRIS, EHR, PACS and other source systems were brought in as complete datasets, preserving fidelity, context and enabling reuse across multiple downstream applications without re-ingestion or re-engineering.

This approach introduced meaningful upfront complexity. Requiring deeper coordination with system owners, rigorous data modeling and stronger governance controls from day one. However, it established a scalable foundation. New analytics use cases can now be delivered rapidly without revisiting ingestion patterns or re-modeling data, significantly reducing time-to-insight and technical redundancy.

In just 10 months, HSS had ingested 40+ source systems, established 14,500+ production tables and 130+ schemas, and delivered a growing set of data products and applications.

More importantly, the transformation has shifted the operating model for how data is delivered across the enterprise. Teams can now move from question to insight using reliable, governed datasets, enabling not just faster delivery, but more sophisticated analytics, functionality and deeper insight generation. It is this step-change in both capability and execution that distinguishes this transformation and underpins the program's recognition as an industry-leading data initiative.

Manufacturing and Automotive Industry Award: TrinityRail

TrinityRail® is a North American railcar lessor, manufacturer and logistics provider that is adopting more digital services into its platform to enhance its suite of customer offerings. As part of its 2026 strategy, the company is focused on operationalizing intelligence, embedding data and implementing AI in its day-to-day decisions and workflows.

TrinityRail brings data together from legacy systems that previously limited visibility across manufacturing, leasing and services and made it harder to improve margins, working capital and workforce productivity. The company is re-platforming core business systems on the Databricks Platform and converging its data estate to support “Systems of Action” — moving from static dashboards to transactional applications and agents that act on insights in near real time.

On this foundation, TrinityRail:

• Unifies key manufacturing and supply chain processes into a “Joint Ops” ecosystem, with initiatives such as OneBOM and Lights-Out Procurement, to automate material planning and purchasing.
• Modernizes leasing systems with Lakebase as the transactional backbone, reducing latency and complexity in its Asset Management System.
• Launches agentic AI use cases, such as a Collections Control Tower and shop-floor assistants, to help automate finance and repair workflows.

Through the acquisition of RSI Logistics, TrinityRail also integrates telemetry data from railcar sensors to support data-as-a-service offerings for customers. Together, these efforts target measurable outcomes such as inventory reduction, procurement automation, per diem and supply chain savings and more responsive digital services across its fleet.

Retail and CPG Industry Award: PepsiCo

PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader — and data powers its operations at scale. Partnering with Databricks, PepsiCo built its Enterprise Data Foundation (EDF) to enable every function across the company to build and scale data and AI products on a shared, modern, scalable and performant platform.

EDF unifies enterprise data and powers reusable data products used by supply chain, commercial, consumer, finance, procurement, R&D, HR and sustainability teams globally. The foundation supports priority business programs with strong operating metrics, including onboarding 85%+ of enterprise data, exceeding 90% data quality and catalog coverage, and delivering 200+ enterprise data and AI products to production.

On this Databricks foundation, PepsiCo has driven reporting and data simplification by 60% to date and plans to move to AI for BI consoles across lines of business and functions.

Built on Databricks, EDF is AI‑ready by design — supporting advanced analytics, machine learning and governed AI at scale. With embedded governance and semantic context, PepsiCo turns clean, connected data into insights and actions that drive real business impact across the enterprise.

Energy and Utilities Industry Award: Ausgrid

Ausgrid is a major electricity distributor in Australia serving homes and businesses across its network. The company is modernizing how it manages and uses data so a relatively small team can support analytics and AI across the enterprise.

Ausgrid brings data from parallel legacy analytics systems that increased platform costs and made it harder to deliver trusted, reusable data to business users. A lean eight‑person data team planned and executed a full migration from Azure Synapse to a lakehouse architecture on the Databricks Platform, decommissioning the old environment and standing up an Enterprise Data Platform with certified “gold” data products across domains such as customer, finance and weather. This work removes duplicate platform spend and reduces operational overhead from maintaining two analytics stacks.

On this foundation, Ausgrid:

• Introduces reusable, certified data products that reduce shadow data marts and ad‑hoc reporting.
• Launches Data Labs that provide governed, on‑demand workspaces for employees to explore data and build BI, analytics and AI solutions.
• Delivers training in data engineering and AI/BI to dozens of staff to support a broader self‑service model.

Looking ahead, Ausgrid focuses on scaling to an AI‑driven utility by releasing more domain‑aligned data products and enabling tools such as Databricks Lakehouse, Genie and apps for democratized analytics. The goal is to onboard thousands of employees onto a single lakehouse and use data and AI to support smarter decisions, modern BI and embedded use cases while improving total cost of ownership through consolidation and elastic compute.

Enterprise Technology Industry Award: Intel

Intel is a global technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors and computing technologies powering devices, data centers and intelligent systems worldwide. The company is modernizing its data and AI foundation to improve collaboration, governance and speed of innovation across the organization.

As Intel’s data estate grew in scale and complexity, teams faced challenges with consistency, governance and fragmented workflows across business units. To address this, Intel IT aligned cross-functional teams around a unified data strategy and standardized analytics and ML consumption on the Databricks Platform, helping bring greater consistency and control across the enterprise.

On this foundation, Intel IT:

• Standardizes and curates data products on the Databricks Platform with consistent governance, lineage and role-based access controls.
• Enables cross-team collaboration by consolidating analytics and ML work into a shared workspace and reducing fragmentation across tools and pipelines.
• Accelerates delivery of analytics and AI use cases through reusable ingestion and transformation patterns, scalable compute and streamlined ML workflows.

Intel IT also strengthened its internal data community by aligning operations, analytics and governance teams around shared standards and operating models. This has helped improve data stewardship while making it easier for teams to discover, access and reuse data across the organization securely.

Together, these efforts have made Intel’s data ecosystem more connected, governed and scalable, supporting faster innovation and broader adoption of data and AI across the business.

Public Sector Industry Award: IDB Invest

IDB Invest is the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, financing companies and mobilizing private investment to advance development across Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2025, it reported a record $13.1 billion in total activity as it advanced a broader institutional transformation designed to increase scale, quality and development impact.

As IDB Invest’s efforts with Databricks have expanded, the organization has modernized how teams’ access and act on information across treasury, analytics and risk workflows. A core objective has been to reduce fragmentation in the analytical environment and establish a stronger foundation for faster, more consistent and more AI-enabled decision-making across the business.

This transformation includes applying AI-based document analysis to support the Risk and Sustainability Management team as deal flow grows and financial and non-financial risk reviews become more complex. Using natural language processing and large language models, IDB Invest can analyze and summarize investment proposals, aide-memoires and annual supervision reports while creating a centralized repository of institutional knowledge and key financial information for faster retrieval.

IDB Invest also implemented an enterprise-wide AI virtual assistant powered by Databricks Genie to provide conversational access to data and analytics. By combining Genie with governed access through Unity Catalog, the organization is giving users a secure way to query enterprise data, explore scenarios and generate summaries in natural language. This helps extend analytics beyond specialist teams and broadens access to AI-driven insights across treasury, risk and impact workflows. This further shortens time to insight, reduces reliance on manual reporting and accelerates adoption of AI across risk, treasury and development impact workflows.

Early outcomes from this work include:

• Improved performance and accuracy in treasury operations.
• A 60% reduction in manual workload.
• Special recognition from Treasury Management International for Best Treasury Tech Overhaul in 2026.

Together, these efforts show how IDB Invest is using data and AI to streamline operations, strengthen decision-making and support its broader growth and development mandate.

Digital Native Business Industry Award: Superhuman

Superhuman, the productivity platform that includes Grammarly, Coda, Superhuman Mail and Superhuman Go, serves over 40 million daily users across dozens of languages and relies on the Databricks Platform to deliver suggestions that are fast, reliable and cost-efficient at a global scale.

In close partnership with Databricks, Superhuman migrated a majority of the inference traffic powering Grammarly’s flagship grammatical error-correction model from a DIY vLLM stack to Databricks High Throughput Model Serving.

On this foundation, Superhuman:

• Handles peak traffic above 200,000 queries per second with sub-second P99 latency and four-nines reliability.
• Improves per-GPU throughput by roughly 60% through FP8 quantization, CPU-side runtime improvements and advanced load balancing.
• Maintains stable latency through large diurnal spikes using autoscaling, direct ingress and accelerated container startup.

Beyond inference, Superhuman has adopted Lakebase, Databricks’ fully managed PostgreSQL service natively integrated with the lakehouse, as a transactional backbone for internal applications and production services, syncing Delta tables into a low-latency store and writing application state back without custom pipelines. This Lakebase and Databricks Apps foundation has turned multi-month feature onboarding and reverse-ETL projects into work measured in weeks or even hours, while dramatically reducing on-call load for engineering teams.

Together, these investments demonstrate how a digital-native company like Superhuman can run high-volume LLM inference and data-driven applications side by side, tightly managing latency, reliability and cost at consumer scale.

Excellence in Cybersecurity Industry Award: Adobe

Adobe empowers everyone, everywhere to imagine, create and bring any digital experience to life. From creators and students to small businesses, global enterprises and nonprofit organizations, customers choose Adobe products to ideate, collaborate and be more productive, drive business growth and build remarkable experiences.

But in today’s digital world, trust is what makes bold ideas possible. Trust empowers creativity — and it starts with security, by protecting our customers and communities who use Adobe’s products every day.

As the volume and complexity of security data have grown, Adobe has continued to evolve its data-driven cybersecurity approach. Adobe’s security team leverages data and AI tooling, including Databricks, to help enable more scalable analysis and improve the speed and accuracy of threat detection.

By applying software engineering practices to its detection workflows, Adobe has strengthened the consistency, governance and efficiency of its security operations. The result has been a measurable reduction in false positives, faster detection development and improved analytical performance against large-scale data.

These efforts reinforce Adobe’s ability to identify and respond to ever-evolving threats — and underpin the secure, reliable digital experiences for Adobe customers worldwide.

Congratulations to all of our 2026 industry winners:

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Lumen Technologies, Hospital for Special Surgery, TrinityRail, PepsiCo, Ausgrid, Intel, IBD Invest, Superhuman and Adobe.

Ten winners. One throughline: organizations that saw what data and AI could do in their field and built something worth celebrating. Their work pushes the whole community forward — and that's exactly the point.

In this role, Dr. Williams, Chief of the HSS Sports Medicine Institute, Medical Director and Head Team Orthopedic Surgeon for the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and New York Red Bulls, will serve as the liaison between FIFA and local medical providers, coordinating 24-hour medical care for all athletes and FIFA officials competing at the New York New Jersey World Cup location. 

“The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of global sport, and it is a distinct honor to be appointed as VMO for some of the tournament’s most high-profile matches,” said Dr. Williams. “Ensuring the health and safety of athletes from around the world on this universal stage is a responsibility I take with the utmost seriousness, and I’m proud to represent HSS in partnership with FIFA to deliver world-class care to every player.” 

Dr. Williams spearheads the relationship between FIFA and HSS, building on the hospital’s distinction as one of only three hospitals in the United States designated as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, an honor HSS has held since 2014 and continues to hold today. This recognition affirms FIFA’s acknowledgment of HSS as one of the premier institutions that has demonstrated a high level of expertise in soccer across medicine, education, and research, including the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of injuries that may arise while playing the sport. 

Dr. Williams specializes in knee, shoulder, and elbow surgery, with a focus on ACL and knee ligament repair and cartilage reconstruction following sports-related and orthopedic injuries. He serves as Chief of the Sports Medicine Institute at HSS, where he leads a multidisciplinary team of more than 60 clinicians across HSS locations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and South Florida. 

This announcement reinforces both organizations’ commitment to advancing athlete health and performance while aligning with FIFA’s medical mission to improve player health globally by setting standards in clinical care and governance, building a worldwide soccer medicine community, conducting and facilitating impactful research and education, and promoting equity and diversity in access to soccer medical knowledge. It also enhances the presence HSS has in soccer, complementing existing partnerships as the official hospital of the New York Red Bulls, US Youth Soccer, and FC Monmouth’s men’s and women’s semi-professional clubs. 

The Tribute Dinner is the premier fundraising event for HSS, recognizing physicians, philanthropists and business leaders who have made a major impact in the field of musculoskeletal medicine. The evening, hosted by Bob Papa, voice of The New York Football Giants, featured entertainment by Sara Bareilles.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest recognition for an outstanding healthcare leader at HSS. “Dr. Hotchkiss is a transformative leader in musculoskeletal medicine who has had a significant impact on the field,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD, surgeon-in-chief and medical director at HSS. “Throughout his career, he has helped redefine how we approach some of the most complex conditions in orthopedic care. His expertise, leadership and unwavering commitment to delivering the highest-quality care have not only advanced the standard of treatment but have also made a meaningful and lasting difference in the lives of the patients he serves.”

The HSS Tribute Dinner Award recognizes outstanding achievements in business and service to the community. “We are honored to celebrate Marina Kellen French for her longstanding leadership and commitment to HSS,” said HSS President and CEO Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA. “Her years of service on the HSS Board of Trustees and dedication to science and research have left a lasting impact on our institution and the patients we serve. From her transformative gift to the Kellen Tower, a landmark expansion of HSS’s Upper East Side campus, to the Kellen Scholars program she established, which has supported the research and discovery of dozens of the brightest minds in orthopedic medicine—her contributions have been instrumental in advancing our field.”

This year’s Tribute Dinner, attended by over 700 guests and raised more than $5 million for patient care, research and medical education.

HONOREES

Marina Kellen French

A philanthropist and avid supporter of the arts and sciences, both in the United States and abroad, Marina Kellen French is Vice President of the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation and President of the Marina Kellen French Foundation. A member of the HSS Board of Trustees and Board of Advisors for over 15 years, she has made an indelible mark on the organization helping to shape the careers of young investigators, blaze new paths for scientific inquiry, and transform how HSS cares for those affected by musculoskeletal conditions.

Mrs. French has long been a champion of science and research at HSS, culminating her lead gift to Kellen Tower, which opened earlier this spring and marks a major milestone in the transformation of HSS’s Upper East Side campus. In addition, she has created the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Clinician-Scientist Program, the Marina Kellen Chair in Complex Joint Reconstruction, the Marina Kellen French Foundation Directorship in Trauma, and a commitment to new research that will enable more patients to achieve successful outcomes from knee replacement surgery.

Mrs. French is a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, the American Academy in Berlin, Friends of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and World Monuments Fund. She is a member of the Trustees’ Council of the National Gallery of Art, a managing director of the Metropolitan Opera, and a life trustee of the Morgan Library & Museum and WNET Channel 13. 

A recipient of numerous awards and honors, in November 2021 Mrs. French was named a Living Landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy for her outstanding contribu­tions to the city. She has received honors from the French government, including the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur award in 2022, and the Commandeur de L’ordre des Arts et Lettres, the highest distinction in the arts, in 2024. She has also received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit (First Class) of the Federal Republic of Germany (2014) for her exceptional work in German-American relations. Mrs. French graduated from the Brearley School in New York City and the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and attended the New York School of Interior Design.

Robert N. Hotchkiss, MD

Dr. Robert N. Hotchkiss served as the inaugural Joel and Anne Bick Ehrenkranz Chair in Hand and Upper Extremity Research and Director of Clinical Research at HSS, where he has devoted much of his professional career to advancing orthopedic surgery, clinical investigation, and innovation in musculoskeletal care. He also serves as Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and previously led the Hand and Upper Extremity Service at HSS for more than a decade.

Dr. Hotchkiss received his undergraduate education at the University of Colorado Boulder, majoring in both Chemistry and Slavic Languages and Literature, before earning his MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also completed his surgical and orthopedic training.

Internationally recognized for his pioneering work in hand, elbow, and upper-extremity reconstruction, Dr. Hotchkiss has helped shape modern approaches to complex elbow trauma, instability, stiffness, and reconstructive surgery. Over a distinguished career spanning more than four decades, he has made contributions that extend beyond the operating room into biomechanics, implant design, translational research, and the emerging use of machine learning and advanced imaging technologies in medicine. He is co-founder and advisor to Imagen Technologies and holds multiple patents in orthopedic devices and drug delivery systems.

A prolific author, educator, and mentor, Dr. Hotchkiss has lectured throughout the United States and internationally, served as Associate Editor of multiple editions of Operative Hand Surgery, and trained generations of surgeons who now lead programs around the world.

Dr. Hotchkiss and his wife, Stephanie, have two grown sons, Andrew and Thomas, who are involved in healthcare technologies and early-stage biotechnology investments.

"Better patient experiences are correlated with better health outcomes, which is why patients should always strive to seek care at a facility with a clear dedication to high-quality, patient-centered care,” said Dr. Alana Biggers, MPH, medical advisor at Healthgrades. “As an Outstanding Patient Experience Award recipient, HSS sets the benchmark for patient experience nationwide, ensuring that every patient feels heard, empowered, and confident throughout the care journey.”

For this annual analysis, Healthgrades evaluated Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) patient survey data across 10 key patient experience measures–ranging from room cleanliness to care explanations–to determine the nation's best hospitals for patient experience. Recipients of the 2026 Outstanding Patient Experience Award earned the highest overall experience scores, reflecting an unwavering commitment to exceptional, individualized care.

Healthgrades' analysis also identified three aspects of patient experience that best predict whether a patient will recommend a hospital to friends and family:*

• Doctor communication
• Nurse communication
• Clear communication about care when discharged

View the announcement, full Outstanding Patient Experience Award recipient list and Outstanding Patient Experience Award Methodology on healthgrades.com.

^*Healthgrades evaluated 3,020 hospitals that submitted at least 100 patient experience surveys to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), covering admissions from January 2024 to December 2024. Hospitals in the bottom 20% for overall clinical quality were excluded from consideration.

What follows are highlights from these studies:

Use of Imaging to Identify Alignment Issues in Pre-Pubertal Children After ACL Reconstruction

A new multi-center prospective study from researchers at HSS evaluated two specialized surgical reconstruction techniques commonly used to treat ACL injuries by restoring knee stability while minimizing risks of growth disturbances in children with open growth plates (skeletally immature) and more than two years of growth remaining.

Researchers compared changes in lower extremity alignment among 112 pre-pubescent patients (girls younger than 12 and boys younger than 14) who had either a physeal-sparing combined intra/extra-articular reconstruction with iliotibial band (ITB) autograft (77 patients) or an all-epiphyseal reconstruction (35 patients). All patients had x-rays taken before surgery and again one year after surgery to measure and compare growth changes in both legs.

They found that approximately 25% of children in the study developed subtle postoperative changes such as differences in leg length and angular deformity that could raise their risk of reinjury in the future. However, there were fewer growth disturbances among older patients who had less than two years of growth remaining. 

“It’s important to make people aware that even though these procedures are safe overall and designed to respect the growth plates, there is still a risk of kids experiencing alignment issues afterward,” says Peter D. Fabricant, MD, MPH, pediatric orthopedic surgeon at HSS and senior author of the study.

An ACL injury is a painful tear or sprain of the ligament connecting the femur (thighbone) to the tibia (shinbone). These injuries have become common among physically active children, especially with year-round participation in sports and an increased level of competition.

In adult patients, the standard ACL reconstruction technique involves drilling tunnels in the femur and tibia to secure a new ligament. For children who are still growing, the growth plates—where the bones grow and gain length—are exactly where the surgeon would need to drill those tunnels. That is why alternative surgical techniques have been developed that reconstruct the ACL and minimize damage to the growth plate in young patients.

“If you injure the growth plate in a younger child who has many years to grow, there’s a lot of time during which that growth plate can grow abnormally,” explains Dr. Fabricant. “Prepubertal patients are the most vulnerable population for growth plate injury, so this study focused on that subset of patients to determine the incidence of developing deformity after surgery.”

This is the first multicenter study to rigorously assess leg alignment before and after surgery and compare the surgical leg to the uninjured leg to identify and monitor postoperative growth disturbances. Such changes may not be reliably measured with clinical examination alone.

“This study gives evidence to support the use of imaging to routinely check a patient’s alignment before surgery, check it after surgery, and monitor these kids for growth disturbances so that we can intervene in minimally invasive ways while they are still growing,” explains Dr. Fabricant. “This is important because only checking alignment when there is a concern is very subjective and there may be missed opportunities for early intervention.”

One minimally invasive surgical technique used to correct alignment issues is called implant-mediated guided growth. This involves placing implants around the growth plate that guide it to grow in a way that encourages realignment. The technique avoids the need for a much bigger operation (osteotomy) to realign the bone and a lengthy recovery, as would be the case for an adult.

“You can only do guided growth surgery when the growth plate is still actively growing, which for some of these kids is only a year or two after their surgery,” explains Dr. Fabricant. “If you aren’t routinely imaging to monitor alignment and you don’t realize it in time, then you’re beyond that window of being able to do that minimally invasive surgery.”

Use of Imaging to Identify Alignment Issues in Adolescent Children With Open Growth Plates After ACL Reconstruction

A second study led by researchers at HSS found that 15% to 30% of adolescent patients who had ACL reconstruction with soft-tissue autograft developed changes in leg alignment, but no patients developed growth-related complications requiring intervention.

For adolescent patients who still have open growth plates and less than two years of growth remaining, ACL reconstruction with soft-tissue autograft is often the technique of choice. This procedure involves drilling tunnels in the bone that would be similar to an adult ACL reconstruction, but the surgeon uses a graft and implants that don’t typically affect the growth plate.

“Even though this procedure is largely safe for adolescents, there is still a possibility of alignment changes after surgery,” notes Peter D. Fabricant, MD, MPH, pediatric orthopedic surgeon at HSS and senior author of the study. “This study adds more evidence to support the need to take x-rays before and after surgery and monitor this population until they reach skeletal maturity.”

The prospective multicenter study included 99 patients (50 boys and 49 girls with a median age of about 14 years) who had less than two years of growth remaining and underwent a primary transphyseal ACL reconstruction with soft-tissue autograft. Researchers used x-ray imaging before surgery and one year after surgery to measure and compare differences in leg alignment.

“We know that leg alignment is a vital factor in predicting injury, reinjury, and surgical failure, so measuring alignment preoperatively is extremely important because you gain the opportunity to address alignment issues at the same time as the ACL surgery with no additional risk,” explains Dr. Fabricant.

For example, if a patient is found to have a borderline alignment issue before surgery, some surgeons may be encouraged to perform an implant-mediated guided growth surgery at the same time as the ACL reconstruction because they know that there is a risk of potentially worsening post-operative alignment if they don’t.

“The logical next step is to strongly consider intervening on alignment problems when necessary in order to prevent reinjury,” says Dr. Fabricant.

In this role, Dr. Press will help shape the future of non-operative musculoskeletal care across  HSS – supporting regional expansion, optimizing practice operations, enhancing access and the patient experience across all sites of care, and overseeing a diverse portfolio of clinical programs.

Dr. Press will report to Douglas E. Padgett, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief and Medical Director at HSS, and will work closely with Associate Surgeon-in-Chiefs Drs. Answorth Allen and Mathias Bostrom, as well as department and service leaders, to advance and integrate non-operative musculoskeletal care across the institution. He will also have a central leadership role in institutional initiatives focused on quality, safety, innovation, and strategic growth.

“Dr. Press has made significant contributions to the advancement of musculoskeletal medicine and is one of the most highly regarded physiatrists in the diagnosis and management of non-operative sports and spine conditions,” said Bryan Kelly, MD, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer of HSS. “His leadership will play a pivotal role in advancing HSS’s mission to expand access to high-quality non-operative care, deepen physician engagement, and drive innovation in musculoskeletal health.”

Dr. Press is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He brings decades of experience building and leading high-performing, multidisciplinary musculoskeletal programs and is widely respected for his collaborative leadership style and commitment to advancing value-based, patient-centered care.

“Dr. Press will be a strong asset to our executive team as we work to shape HSS’s next chapter—one defined by expanded access, integrated care, clinical innovation, and enduring leadership in musculoskeletal health,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief and Medical Director at HSS.

Dr. Press is currently Physiatrist-in-Chief at HSS and Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. He has built a distinguished clinical and leadership career in musculoskeletal care, including his prior role as founder and director of the Spine and Sports Rehabilitation Centers at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

A prolific scholar and educator, Dr. Press has authored more than 75 peer-reviewed publications, edited multiple textbooks, and has held national leadership roles across major professional societies in musculoskeletal medicine, rehabilitation, and sports medicine. He earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at Northwestern University.

For 25 years, Dr. Press has been consistently named among the best doctors in the country by Castle Connolly.

“I am honored to serve as Physician-in-Chief at HSS during such a pivotal moment in the evolution of musculoskeletal care,” said Dr. Press. “I look forward to partnering with my colleagues to build on HSS’s extraordinary legacy and help shape what comes next not just at HSS but within the field of musculoskeletal health at large.”

ISOC was founded in 2006 by Thomas P. Sculco, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus at Hospital for Special Surgery, and is currently led by Mathias P. Bostrom, MD, HSS Associate Surgeon-in-Chief. Though independently incorporated as a nonprofit organization, the society continues to draw significant administrative and intellectual support from HSS, including leadership from administrators Briana Bloom and Nicole Earley. Today, ISOC’s 23 member centers span multiple continents and represent a collaborative network committed to advancing musculoskeletal care through shared knowledge and collective ambition.

This year’s conference unfolded around the theme Beyond the Bone: The Power of Corporate Culture in Orthopaedic Care, reflecting a growing recognition that excellence in patient outcomes depends as much on institutional culture as on surgical technique. Led by Drs. Tim Simmers and Mark Stegman of the Sint Maartenskliniek, the program explored topics ranging from organizational identity and safety systems to physician well-being and workforce sustainability. Steven Forti, Chief Wellness and Resiliency Officer at HSS, presented the hospital’s widely recognized approach to clinician wellness, an area of increasing urgency across medicine.

Beyond the formal sessions—which included more than 100 presentations, research discussions, roundtables, and keynote lectures—the conference placed equal weight on conversation and connection. The result was both an exchange of ideas and a renewal of professional bonds across borders. With six ISOC centers ranked among the world’s top specialized orthopaedic hospitals by Newsweek, the meeting underscored the society’s role as a convening force for many of the field’s most influential voices.

Next year will mark a milestone for the organization. In 2027, ISOC will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first conference, held in New York City in 2007 and hosted by HSS. To commemorate the occasion, member institutions will once again convene in New York, where HSS will host the 13th ISOC Conference—bringing the society back to where its global experiment in collaboration began.

“As GLP-1 medications increase in popularity, the effect of these drugs in patients undergoing surgery raises concerns for anesthesiologists,” says Oliver PF Panzer, MD, anesthesiologist at HSS and author of both studies. “We seek to better understand the usage and impact of GLP-1s on patients undergoing surgery so we can adapt the management of these patients to maximize their safety.”

Study: Cross Sectional Assessment of Preoperative Gastric Content with Ultrasound in Patients Taking GLP-1 Agonists

In the study “Cross Sectional Assessment of Preoperative Gastric Content with Ultrasound in Patients Taking GLP-1 Agonists,” researchers set out to explore how GLP-1 medications affect gastric emptying in patients scheduled for surgery. Food retained in the stomach can increase the risk of regurgitation and pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents, a serious, life-threatening complication during general anesthesia.

“Previous studies show patients using the GLP-1 agonist semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus) experience slower gastric emptying, which can result in residual gastric contents even when these patients follow standard preoperative fasting guidelines,” says Dr. Panzer. “We became concerned that patients taking GLP-1s may not be adequately protected from aspiration during anesthesia under the current guidelines.”

“The goal of this study was to look at the incidence of full stomach in patients taking GLP-1s compared to patients not taking the drugs,” says Dr. Panzer. “We also wanted to look at fasting times to detect whether people on GLP-1s who fast longer than the guidelines recommend trend toward being less full.”

In the multi-center, prospective, cross-sectional observational study, researchers used ultrasound to assess the preoperative incidence of full stomach in elective surgery patients taking weekly injectable GLP-1s compared to elective surgery patients not taking the drugs. A total of 354 patients were included in the study between August 29, 2023, and January 31, 2025. Ultrasound was performed by an anesthesiologist in the preoperative holding area, with clear fluid >1.5ml/kg or solid content indicating a full stomach. All institutions followed American Society of Anesthesiology “nothing by mouth” (NPO) fasting guidance (8 hours for heavy fatty foods; 6 hours for light meals; 2 hours for clear liquids).

Dr. Panzer and colleagues found no significant difference in the incidence of full stomach between patients taking GLP-1s and those who do not. Overall fasting times for solids tended to be longer in full patients in the GLP-1 group compared to the control group (23.73 vs 16.63 hours) but did not reach statistical significance.

“This multicenter study showed no difference in the rate of full stomachs between the GLP-1 group and the control group, which stands in contrast to what most studies have shown so far,” says Dr. Panzer. “One possible explanation for our result is that our patients report higher average fasting times (18.5 hours) than patients at other institutions. However, there may be other factors that warrant further investigation.”

“We hope to follow up this study with research that examines whether 24 hours of solid food fasting is helpful in reducing full stomach in patients on GLP-1s,” says Dr. Panzer. “Another question is whether pausing GLP-1s prior to surgery may have an impact on full stomach. Although the current guidance says to continue taking GLP-1s before surgery because stopping the drug poses its own health risks, it’s a question worth exploring.”

Study: Institutional Trends in GLP-1 Agonist Use Among Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Patients, 2021–2024

In the study, “Institutional Trends in Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Use Among Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Patients, 2021–2024,” researchers explore the prevalence of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist use among patients undergoing primary and revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) at HSS.

“As usage of GLP-1s continues to expand in the general population, we wanted to capture the incidence and type of GLP-1 usage among patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasty,” says Dr. Panzer.

The researchers retrospectively reviewed the records of 45,537 adult patients who underwent primary or revision THA or TKA between January 4, 2021, and December 31, 2024. Dr. Panzer and colleagues found GLP-1 use increased significantly in that period, rising from 3.69% in 2021 to 12.84% in 2024.  Semaglutide and tirzepatide were the most common agents, accounting for 88% of all GLP-1 use in 2024. Higher rates of GLP-1 use were seen in patients with significant comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, or heart failure, and in Black patients.  

“We also saw a significant decrease in the number of GLP-1 users with diabetes in this time period, suggesting that more patients are using these medications for other reasons such as weight loss,” notes Dr. Panzer.

“We will continue to examine GLP-1 usage in the surgical orthopedic population so we can ensure patients on these drugs can have surgery safely,” says Dr. Panzer. “We’re just at the beginning of this investigative journey, so there is a lot more insight to come.”

These studies contribute important early evidence to help guide emerging perioperative considerations for patients using GLP‑1 medications.

References:

Study 1: Cross Sectional Assessment of Preoperative Gastric Content with Ultrasound in Patients Taking GLP-1 Agonists

Authors: Oliver Panzer, Maya Tailor, Juliet E. Rowe, Michael Singleton, William Manson, Hari Kalagara, Nibras Bughrara, Anahita Dabo-Trubelja, Marissa Weber, Eric Heinz, Stephen C. Haskins, William P. Qiao, Miriam Sheetz, Alex Illescas, Kayla Bernstein, Mariel Maramba, Mahtab Sheikh, Jayanta Chowdhury, Sheila Carr, Tatum Gee, Eduard Shaykhinurov, Justas Lauzadis, Jashvant Poeran, Anahi Perlas

Study 2: Institutional Trends in Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Use Among Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Patients, 2021–2024

Authors: Juliet Rowe, Maya Tailor, Alexandra Sideris, Alex Illescas, Jawad Saleh, Jashvant Poeran, Daniel Maalouf, Oliver Panzer

What follows are highlights from these studies:

HSS Study Uses Machine Learning to Predict Risk of Long-Term Pain After Knee Replacement Surgery

A new study led by researchers at HSS used a type of AI known as machine learning (ML) to identify key clinical and biological factors that raise a person’s risk of having persistent pain after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Risk factors included elevated levels of certain inflammatory cytokines (proteins) in the blood, severe preoperative pain, and a longer period of tourniquet use in the operating room.

“These findings highlight the importance of incorporating biological markers like cytokine levels with patient-specific pain profiles and what the surgeon does during the operation to more accurately predict the risk of long-term pain after surgery,” says Meghan Kirksey, MD, PhD, an anesthesiologist at HSS and senior author of the study.

ML is a specialized approach that uses algorithms and statistical models to analyze patterns in large amounts of data to learn, predict, and make recommendations.

“Machine learning is allowing us to look at patient and clinician information in new ways,” says Alexandra Sideris, PhD, Director of the HSS Pain Prevention Research Center and a coauthor of the study. “It gives us a multidimensional approach to understanding patients’ pain experience that we didn’t have in our arsenal even five or 10 years ago.”

One in five people has significant knee pain months after having TKA, also known as total knee replacement surgery. “The lingering pain greatly affects their daily activities and quality of life, so that’s why it’s an important focus for us,” explains Dr. Sideris.

Persistent postoperative pain (PPP) is typically flagged when a patient has lasting pain at the site of the operation that is above a four on a scale of zero to 10 and severely impacts their activities of daily living three to six months after surgery.

The researchers used four different ML models to analyze data from a previously published study that collected comprehensive clinical information and blood samples from 160 patients before and after TKA at HSS. The new study identified key predictors associated with PPP beyond risk factors that were already known such as sex (women tend to have a higher risk), preexisting pain, and mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

The findings showed that having high blood levels of an inflammatory marker called TARC immediately after surgery raises the risk of PPP. “This molecule hasn’t been extensively studied in pain, but the evidence shows that it was consistently associated with persistent pain six months after surgery across all four ML models we tested,” notes Dr. Kirksey.

Other top predictors of PPP that emerged from the analysis included a higher preoperative pain score at rest, longer tourniquet time (a tourniquet is a device that squeezes the leg to help clear the area of blood flow during surgery), and higher blood levels of other inflammatory cytokines right after surgery.

In this study, researchers entered 318 clinical and biological characteristics collected from patients in the older study and asked each of the ML models to figure out the most important features associated with pain after TKA. The researchers also evaluated the accuracy of the ML models they used and found that XGBoost was the most informative.

“To my knowledge, this is the first study that looked at all of this information and tried to make sense of the best ML approach to use,” says Dr. Sideris. “What is exciting to us is that there was one feature – TARC – that consistently popped up across all four models and it wasn’t on anybody’s radar beforehand…this gives us hope that ML can help us identify with high integrity targets that haven’t been studied before.”

The researchers note that more research is needed to know if their findings can be used to impact clinical care. “Our goal is to be able to use these tools and data to tailor pain management strategies, prevent long-term complications, and personalize treatment decisions,” says Dr. Kirksey.

HSS AI Analysis Reveals What Patients Are Googling About Local Anesthesia

A new study by researchers at HSS used AI to systematically evaluate the types of questions that patients are Googling related to regional (local) anesthesia, identify websites that are frequently presented in search results, and assess the quality of the information provided.

“We knew that patients frequently search for information about anesthesia online, but we wanted to know exactly what they were looking for so that we could proactively address these topics and concerns in our conversations in the clinic and our patient education materials,” says Jashvant Poeran, MD, PhD, Director of Research in the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Management at HSS and lead author of the study.

The analysis found that most patients’ questions focused on risks, complications, and details surrounding medications, awareness during sedation, nerve block duration, and the recovery process. The study also found that while the overall quality of information accessed during Google searches was accurate, the source of that information was not always clear.

Anesthesiologists see patients in the clinic for a short period to prepare them for surgery and manage expectations.

“There’s so much information being conveyed during that limited time that sometimes patients forget what to ask, or they don’t even know what they should be asking during the visit,” explains Dr. Poeran. “Our study results will help us anticipate some of their questions and give us a starting point when we sit down with them so it’s not so much of a guessing game.”

The researchers entered seven search terms into Google Web Search: “regional nerve block,” “regional anesthesia,” “peripheral nerve block,” “pain block,” “neuraxial anesthesia,” “epidural anesthesia,” and “spinal anesthesia.” The top 200 questions in the “People Also Ask” section and its associated websites were collected, totaling 1,400 question and website combinations.

The authors then used AI to categorize themes and assess website quality. They found that most questions pertained to facts around risks and complications, comparisons between different techniques and approaches, technical details, and indications.

“We were expecting questions around risks and complications, but it was surprising that so many patients were looking at technical details, specifically around sedation,” notes Dr. Poeran. “They were not always aware that you can be awake for a peripheral nerve block, for example.”

Because patients’ questions are linked to specific websites, researchers also wanted to know where patients were being referred to and how reliable the information presented was. The AI analysis found that 55% of websites were academic, 19% were government, and 11% were public/social media sources. Information on government and academic/hospital websites scored the highest in terms of accuracy, and medical practice websites scored the lowest.

Dr. Poeran cautioned that some patients’ questions are nuanced, and online information can bias a person in the wrong direction.

“For example, if you ask whether regional anesthesia is better than general anesthesia you will be able to get generic information about those approaches online, but you need to talk to your doctor to get a more personalized recommendation based on your specific circumstances,” says Dr. Poeran.

While the study revealed important questions, it’s not all-encompassing. “There will be questions that aren’t captured by this study, but anesthesiologists can use this data to guide their consultations with patients scheduled for surgery, provide more-informative patient education materials, and refer them to the most reliable websites for more information,” notes Dr. Poeran.

He plans to continue leveraging AI in his future research endeavors.

“Based on the information we gathered, we will update our educational materials with the questions we now know patients ask most often and may even provide it in different languages and reading levels,” says Dr. Poeran. “We can then use AI to see how that information is perceived and understood by patients, study differences in search terms entered in different languages, etc.”

The medication, suzetrigine (JOURNAVX®), was FDA-approved in January 2025 and became available at HSS in April 2025. It is the first non-opioid pain reliever released in more than 25 years.

Alexandra Sideris, PhD, Director of the Pain Prevention Research Center at HSS, and Faye Rim, MD, FAAPMR, a physiatrist and pain management specialist within the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care & Pain Management, co-led the study.

One advantage of the new medication is that it works differently from standard over-the-counter pain relievers and stronger medications like opioids.

“What's exciting about this new medication is that it is targeting pain signal on the nerves outside of the brain, so you're presumably getting to the acute pain source right at the time where that happens,” Dr. Sideris said. "Early studies also suggest that it's devoid of those classical addictive properties that opioids have.”

It’s even more targeted than local anesthetics, which block pain messengers known as sodium channels. Instead, suzetrigine blocks just one sodium channel, Nav1.8, which means patients should experience fewer side effects and more targeted pain relief.

HSS was an early adopter in New York City to add suzetrigine to its formulary, and Dr. Rim was instrumental in bringing it to surgical patients. Patients managed by the Perioperative Pain Service often have complex needs that opioids alone may not be able to meet. Some patients may have other conditions that contraindicate the use of opioids. suzetrigine presents a novel, non-habit-forming option that can either replace or augment opioid use after surgery.

For this study, the team evaluated 103 HSS patients who took suzetrigine after undergoing a variety of surgical procedures, but primarily joint arthroplasty or spine surgery. Eight patients (7.8%) experienced at least one adverse reaction during admission, likely related to the drug, and ended up stopping the medication. The remaining 95 patients (92.2%) generally tolerated it well.

“The longer-term goal is to see if adding on suzetrigine actually decreases your need for opioids or if it is an effective option for patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery who cannot tolerate opioids,” Dr. Sideris said.

Pain has historically been a challenging area for drug development, in part because preclinical models do not always predict human response.

“Unfortunately, many things that work in animals just haven't translated into humans, and it's been a quest to understand [why],” Dr. Sideris said.

But this drug’s novel approach makes it an exciting advance in the field and one that HSS pain researchers were eager to capitalize on. This initial study gives a first look at how suzetrigine is tolerated in surgical patients at HSS, with an ongoing study in patients undergoing total hip replacements, and more research planned in patients knee, and spine surgery. Further studies will evaluate who may benefit from the medication the most, and who is more likely to require additional support. Currently, it is not a first-line medication, but Dr. Rim anticipates that will change as the drug becomes more widely available and additional evidence emerges on its efficacy in various surgical populations.

“We need to look more carefully at why certain patients may not do as well on this medication as we think they would,” she said. “It’s not a panacea, but it's definitely promising.”

She added that HSS was an obvious choice for the medication’s early adoption due to the institution’s reputation for cutting-edge science and advanced care.

“HSS is known for being innovative and this falls in line with that,” Dr. Rim said. “We want to try to utilize anything that's safe and effective within an arsenal to make sure patients recover well and become functional.”

This newly created role reflects HSS’s continued focus on expanding and integrating its ambulatory footprint to support high-quality care across sites.

McPherson will be responsible for leading system-wide ambulatory operations, with oversight of ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient clinics, and select ancillary services. In this role, she will drive operational performance, standardization, and coordination across sites to advance HSS’s growth and care delivery priorities.

“Val’s appointment strengthens our ability to deliver a more coordinated, high-performing ambulatory model at scale,” said Mary Cassai, executive vice president and chief operating officer at HSS. “Her experience leading complex clinical operations and driving performance across sites will be important as we expand access to more patients across the New York Tri-State region and enhance the patient experience.”

McPherson joins HSS from Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center, where she served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Officer. She brings more than 25 years of experience leading clinical and operational functions across complex health systems.

“Val is a highly accomplished healthcare executive with deep experience in leading complex clinical operations,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD. “She will play a key role in strengthening our ambulatory platform and supporting continued growth across the system.”

“HSS has set the standard for musculoskeletal care through a clear focus on quality and outcomes,” said McPherson. “I’m looking forward to advancing the operational capabilities that support that care—expanding access, improving efficiency, and ensuring a seamless experience for patients.”

McPherson joins HSS on April 27, reporting directly to Mary Cassai.

Robert G. Marx, M.D, knee surgeon at HSS and Todd McGrath, M.D. sports medicine physician at HSS, will serve as UFC’s Head Consulting Orthopedic Surgeon and Head Consulting Orthopedic Physician, respectively. Together, they will be on call during UFC events for orthopedic consultation.

Said Dr. Duncan French, Senior Vice President, UFC Performance Institute, “HSS has been a trusted partner for nearly a decade. Their expertise has been instrumental in UFC providing industry leading services for injury prevention, treatment, and recovery for the athletes who compete in the Octagon. Together, we’ll continue to ensure UFC athletes have access to the highest level of medical care and support in combat sports.” 

“Our partnership with UFC reflects a longstanding commitment to delivering the highest standard of athlete care,” said Dr. Marx. “Our focus remains on elevating performance, accelerating recovery, and ensuring fighters have the comprehensive support they need to succeed in and out of the Octagon.”

“Success inside the Octagon starts with a strong foundation of health, and we are committed to helping fighters stay strong, recover fully, and prepare with confidence.” said Dr. McGrath. “We’re proud to work alongside UFC in advancing a unified approach to athlete health, safety, and competitive readiness. Through close collaboration with performance and medical teams, we’re ensuring fighters have the consistent, high-quality care required to meet the demands of this sport at every stage of training and competition.”

“We’re proud to extend our partnership with Hospital for Special Surgery, a world-class leader in orthopedic care and athlete health,” said Sana Shuaib, Senior Vice President, Partnership Marketing & Digital of TKO. “The continuation of our partnership reflects the strength of our collaboration and our shared commitment to supporting the performance and long-term well-being of UFC athletes.” 

The renewed partnership builds on a proven track record of supporting UFC athletes in maximizing performance and recovery. As part of the expanded agreement, HSS will maintain a significant presence across the UFC Performance Institute, including an enhanced role at the Mexico City facility, which reflects a meaningful extension of HSS’s international footprint. HSS also remains integrated into the state-of-the-art HSS Sports Rehabilitation Center within UFC’s flagship Performance Institute headquartered in Las Vegas. 

As an Official Partner of UFC, HSS will continue to receive highly visible brand placement inside the world-famous Octagon® at selected UFC Numbered Events. In addition, HSS will be prominently featured at UFC’s annual marquee event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where HSS is headquartered.

UFC and HSS will also collaborate on a custom content series featuring UFC athletes and HSS doctors, underscoring a shared commitment to peak performance and long-term athlete health. This series will be amplified across UFC’s massive digital ecosystem that includes   Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube, collectively  reaching  more than 353 million social media followers worldwide. 

In addition to serving as UFC’s first-ever official hospital, HSS also provides care to the highest-performing professional, collegiate, and amateur athletes and organizations around the world, including the New York Giants, New York Rangers, New York Knicks, New York Liberty, New York Mets and Brooklyn Nets, among others and is recognized by FIFA as one of only 3 FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence in the United States. 

Dr. Jonathan M. Vigdorchik, Chief Science, Technology and Medical Affairs Officer, Zimmer Biomet

In this role, Dr. Vigdorchik will oversee the strategy, delivery, and management of the company's global end-to-end technology portfolio, including AI, robotics, smart implants and data. He will also oversee Zimmer Biomet's Medical Education strategy and Global Advisory Board, helping further strengthen Zimmer Biomet's clinical engagement, innovation roadmap and external scientific leadership. Dr. Vigdorchik will report to Ivan Tornos, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

"Dr. Vigdorchik is a world-class orthopedic surgeon, and he brings exactly the kind of bold, future-focused leadership we need as we continue to shape the next era of musculoskeletal care," said Tornos. "He understands how to translate clinical insight into meaningful innovation, and his leadership will help us move faster, think bigger and continue advancing our broad suite of robotic and enabling technologies. I'm confident he will play a critical role in accelerating our portfolio strategy and further differentiating Zimmer Biomet in the market."

Dr. Vigdorchik previously served as Zimmer Biomet's Chief Medical Technology Advisor, Adult Reconstruction and Hip Implants. He is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City, specializing in hip and knee replacement surgery. Dr. Vigdorchik held several prominent academic and clinical leadership positions, including serving as Division Chief for national/international reputation and academic promotion on the Adult Reconstruction and Joint Replacement service at HSS and Director of Bone Implant Longevity Research at HSS's Griffin Research Accelerator. In addition, he is currently an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is active in professional societies including The Hip Society, The Knee Society, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), where he served as the Education and Communications Council Chair and earlier served as Program Chair for the 2024 AAHKS Annual Meeting.

"As a surgeon and innovator, I believe we are at an inflection point where AI, data, and advanced technology will fundamentally redefine the future of orthopedics," said Dr. Vigdorchik. "I've dedicated my career to focus on preventing complications and achieving consistently better outcomes for patients. With strength across its product portfolio, a differentiated suite of robotic and enabling technologies, and a pathway toward fully autonomous robotic technology in orthopedics, Zimmer Biomet is poised to continue pushing the industry forward. I'm excited to join the talented team in this expanded role to help advance that vision and accelerate innovation for surgeons and patients around the world."

Dr. Vigdorchik earned his medical degree from the University of Missouri – Columbia School of Medicine, completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at the Detroit Medical Center / Providence Hospital, and received fellowship training in Adult Reconstruction and Joint Replacement at HSS. He also completed an international traveling fellowship in hip preservation surgery with training at centers in Switzerland, Boston Children's Hospital, and Washington University in St. Louis.

About Zimmer BiometZimmer Biomet is a global medical technology leader with a comprehensive portfolio designed to maximize mobility and improve health. We seamlessly transform the patient experience through our innovative products and suite of integrated digital and robotic technologies that leverage data, data analytics and artificial intelligence.

With 90+ years of trusted leadership and proven expertise, Zimmer Biomet is positioned to deliver the highest quality solutions to patients and providers. Our legacy continues to come to life today through our progressive culture of evolution and innovation. 

Kellen Tower is adjacent to the main hospital at 535 East 70th Street and connected via a sky bridge. The building also connects to the HSS Pavilion to the west, further integrating inpatient, outpatient, and recovery services across the campus. The opening was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 30.

“Demand for complex musculoskeletal care continues to grow, and many of the patients who come to HSS require expertise and resources that are not widely available elsewhere,” said Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA, President and CEO at HSS. “Kellen Tower allows us to expand access to that specialized care while maintaining the focused environment and standards of excellence that define HSS.”

Expanding Access to World-Leading Orthopedic Care

Recognized globally for excellence in musculoskeletal care, HSS is ranked the No. 1 hospital in orthopedics nationwide by U.S. News & World Report—a distinction it has held for 16 consecutive years. Patients travel from across the country and around the world to receive highly specialized surgical and nonsurgical care at HSS.

Kellen Tower will provide a specialized environment for joint replacement and spine surgery patients, including those with the most complex conditions. In addition to providing more space for physician offices and exam rooms, the new facility offers on-site imaging services and increases the number of single-bed rooms for patients. Three floors of private rooms are designed to enhance their comfort and care.

“The thoughtful design of Kellen Tower supports our commitment to delivering specialized care in a modern and highly efficient setting dedicated to orthopedic excellence and the needs of our patients,” said Thomas P. Sculco, MD, HSS Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus and Director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Complex Joint Reconstruction Center.

“The enhanced inpatient spaces and the renovation of recovery floors in the main hospital will allow HSS to improve how existing beds are used and increase the proportion of private patient rooms across the main campus, “he added. “This has been an institutional priority to optimize the healing environment for our patients.”

As part of the Kellen Tower project, HSS is also fulfilling a longstanding commitment to the local community by funding major improvements to the East River Esplanade from 72nd to 78th Streets. The work aligns with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s master plan for the waterfront walkway and builds on HSS’s prior $1.8 million investment to renovate the Esplanade between 70th and 72nd Streets in 2018.

Philanthropy Fuels Campus Transformation

The construction of Kellen Tower was made possible through the generosity of HSS donors, with early philanthropic contributions exceeding $195 million, including a lead gift of $35 million from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, made at the recommendation of the Foundation Vice President and HSS Trustee Marina Kellen French. The gift honors the Kellens’ legacy and reflects the Foundation’s longstanding support of HSS.

“Our support for HSS is based on its unwavering commitment to improving musculoskeletal care on a global scale not only through unmatched patient care, but with groundbreaking research and the medical education of future leaders in the field,” said Marina Kellen French. “The new tower is not just about bricks and mortar; it’s about allowing HSS to care for more people, helping patients with the most complex needs for generations to come.”

“Kellen Tower represents an important evolution of the HSS campus,” said Jonathan Tisch, HSS Trustee and member of the HSS Kellen Tower Task Force. “It brings together the spaces, technology, and clinical resources needed to support the way care is delivered. It’s a meaningful step forward for patients and for everyone who works at HSS, strengthening our ability to deliver exceptional care every day.” The Special Amenities Inpatient floor, to be known as Tisch 5 in recognition of the generosity of Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch, will further elevate the patient experience within the new facility.

An esteemed surgeon with more than two decades of executive, clinical, and academic leadership, Dr. Albert will oversee clinical strategy, care standardization, and the expansion of Legent’s physician-focused partnership model as Legent accelerates the growth of its platform nationally. In addition to his new position, he will continue to serve as Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus and Richard Rogers Chair to Advance Spine Care at HSS, as well as Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Dr. Albert’s appointment follows Legent’s acquisition in October 2025 by HSS and General Atlantic, a leading global investor, as part of the launch of a new, independently operated national platform of ambulatory surgery centers dedicated to orthopedic and spine care. To support the platform’s buildout, HSS and General Atlantic agreed to acquire Legent. The transaction is intended to support Legent’s long-term strategy to expand patient access to high-quality, accessible orthopedic and spine care nationwide and meet rising demand for advanced outpatient solutions, while the company continues to operate independently under its existing name and leadership team.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Albert to the Legent team as Chief Medical Officer. He brings a unique combination of clinical innovation, governance, and physician leadership that will be instrumental as we execute our growth strategy and continue building a leading national platform for orthopedic and spine care, reaching more patients and communities nationwide,” said Jordan Fowler, Chief Executive Officer of Legent Health.

“I’m very excited to join this team of talented and highly experienced professionals as we continue to build a national platform for orthopedic and spine care,” said Dr. Albert. “I have deep conviction in Legent’s mission to deliver consistent, high-quality care while expanding patient access closer to home and look forward to contributing to the further expansion of this important organization.”

Dr. Albert brings extensive clinical, academic, and executive leadership experience to his role at Legent. In addition to his current roles, he previously served as Surgeon-in-Chief and Chief Medical Director of HSS from 2014 to 2019, where he led transformational growth for HSS, increasing the hospital’s annual revenue from $600 million to $1.7 billion while expanding ambulatory and international collaborations, launching physician-enterprise partnerships, and advancing institution-wide safety and opioid stewardship initiatives.

Earlier in his career, as President of The Rothman Institute and Chair of Orthopedics at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals between 2006-2014, Dr. Albert drove sustained growth from $15 million to $300 million in annual revenue while building hospitals, surgery centers, and imaging platforms. A nationally recognized spine surgeon specializing in cervical spine disorders, Dr. Albert has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed publications, 14 books, and 90 book chapters, holds multiple patents tied to more than $2 billion in technology sales, and has served in senior leadership roles across major professional societies.

The studies, which looked at safety and outcomes in both femur-level (above-the-knee) and tibia-level (below-the-knee) OI, were presented at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in New Orleans this week.

“Osseointegration represents a significant advancement in the field of prosthetics for patients who have had a limb amputation, and interest is building rapidly,” said Jason Hoellwarth, MD, director of research in the Limb Lengthening and Complex Reconstruction Service and the Osseointegration Limb Replacement Center. “At HSS, we have performed more OI surgeries than any other hospital in the United States, treating more than 300 patients since 2017. We have found that osseointegration provides improved mobility, comfort and quality of life for patients when compared to a standard socket prosthesis.”    

Study 1: Femur and Tibia Press-Fit Osseointegration - A Comparison of Safety and Outcomes

“There are no studies in the scientific literature focusing on differences in safety and outcomes of patients who underwent transfemoral osseointegration as compared to those who had transtibial osseointegration,” said Taylor J. Reif, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in the Osseointegration Limb Replacement Center at HSS who presented the research. Dr. Reif and colleagues set out to compare safety, clinical, and quality-of-life outcomes in these two patient groups.

Dr. Hoellwarth, co-author of the study, noted that osseointegration was originally considered primarily for patients with femur-level amputations, since they fared much worse with a socket prosthesis than individuals with tibia-level amputations. “It was widely believed that patients with a below-the-knee amputation did well enough with their socket prosthesis and therefore would not derive significant benefit from osseointegration. Our study directly challenged that perspective.”

Researchers reviewed 147 OI procedures: 83 femur-level and 64 tibia-level. Both groups experienced substantial improvements in mobility and overall patient satisfaction, and there were no significant differences in the rate of adverse events.

“Contrary to widespread assumptions, our research found that tibia osseointegration patients have as much to gain from the surgery as femur OI patients,” Dr. Reif noted. “Therefore, any individual with a lower-limb amputation who is dissatisfied with their current socket prosthesis should be evaluated for osseointegration if they would like to pursue that option.”

Study 2: Primary Amputation with Osseointegration Versus Osseointegration for Existing Amputation

HSS researchers set out to compare safety and outcomes in patients who had osseointegration performed at the same time they had an amputation versus the more commonly performed osseointegration in individuals with an existing amputation.

The study included patients who had lower-extremity osseointegration with a minimum of one-year follow-up at HSS. There were 139 OI procedures: 81 femur-level and 58 tibia-level. Fifteen patients had simultaneous amputation and OI (4 femoral and 11 tibial), while 124 patients had OI for an established amputation (77 femoral and 47 tibial). 

The researchers found that both groups of patients—those undergoing osseointegration at the time of their amputation and those who had osseointegration with an existing amputation—achieved comparable gains in mobility and quality of life. There was no significant difference in adverse events between the two groups.

“Our research challenges the current paradigm that individuals with amputations should first try conventional socket prosthetics and only consider osseointegration if they are dissatisfied with their prosthesis,” said Dr. Reif, who presented the study. “It would be reasonable to offer simultaneous amputation and osseointegration to select, well-informed patients who prefer to bypass the trial of a socket prosthesis.”

Study 3: Safety and Early Experience of Osseointegration Limb Replacement with Custom-Fit Implants

HSS researchers set out to review the early outcomes of osseointegration with custom-made 3D-printed implants, which may be required for certain patients to obtain an ideal fit.

“Some designs of press-fit osseointegration implants have standard curvatures and contours with patient-specific length, leading to difficulty fitting the shape of the residual bone in some cases,” Dr. Hoellwarth explained.

Dr. Reif, who presented the study at the AAOS meeting, noted that additive manufacturing using electron beam melting (EBM) allows the production of precision osseointegration implants to achieve an optimal fit, making it possible to reconstruct nearly any residual bone segment to meet an individual’s anatomical needs.

The HSS researchers retrospectively reviewed the records of 19 patients at HSS who underwent osseointegration with custom 3D-printed implants planned from a preoperative CT scan. Patients included those who had above-the-knee, below-the-knee and above-the-elbow osseointegration procedures between May 2024 and March 2025.

The investigators found large, statistically significant improvements in patient-reported outcome scores following OI, and a significant increase in prosthetic use was observed in those who had used a socket prosthesis before OI surgery.  

Dr. Reif noted that the custom EBM osseointegration implants avoided intraoperative distal chip fracture, which can sometimes occur when using standard OI implants, and there was no loosening of the custom implants. “We found that short-term functional outcomes were similar to standard osseointegration implants,” he added. “Further studies are warranted to assess the long-term outcomes and durability of custom implants.”

Study 1 - Femur And Tibia Press-Fit Osseointegration - A Comparison of Safety and Outcomes (Zachary Glassband BA, Taylor J. Reif MD FAAOS, S. Robert Rozbruch MD FAAOS, Jason S. Hoellwarth MD)

Study 2 - Primary Amputation with Osseointegration Versus Osseointegration for Existing Amputation (S. Robert Rozbruch MD FAAOS, Mohamed Abdelaziz Elghazy MD, Zachary Glassband BA, Taylor J. Reif MD FAAOS, Jason S. Hoellwarth MD)

Study 3 - Safety and Early Experience of Osseointegration Limb Replacement with Custom-Fit Implants (S. Robert Rozbruch MD FAAOS, Zachary Glassband BA, Jason Hoellwarth MD, Taylor Reif MD FAAOS)

TKA, also known as total knee replacement, is one of the most common elective surgeries in the United States, with over 700,000 cases performed each year. In spite of advances in surgical techniques and antibiotic regimens, infection following TKA remains a devastating complication that has led to a greater focus on controllable risk factors.

“Historically, it’s been said that the higher a surgeon’s volume, the lower the rate of infection, and the corollary is that low-volume surgeons are considered to have a higher risk of infection,” says senior author Geoffrey H. Westrich, MD, hip and knee surgeon at HSS. “We wanted to take a closer look at this historic paradigm to determine if surgeon volume independently affects infection outcomes at a high-volume orthopedic center that places great importance on infection prevention.

“At HSS, we perform thousands of joint replacements each year and we have an incredibly robust infection prevention program that has resulted in infection rates that are among the lowest in the nation,” Dr. Westrich continues. “However, the biggest problem with infection research is that because our rates are so low, it’s hard to isolate the impact of individual surgeon volume from the many institutional factors that influence outcomes.”

The researchers conducted a retrospective review of prospectively collected data at HSS that included all TKA procedures (33,747) performed between January 1, 2018, and December 30, 2024. A total of 52 surgeons were stratified by annual TKA case volume into three categories: low (<50 cases/year), high (50–250 cases/year), and ultra-high (>250 cases/year). Infection outcomes, including superficial surgical site infections (SSI) and deep periprosthetic joint infections (PJI), were monitored for 90 days postoperatively using a dedicated surveillance program in accordance with National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) criteria.

The study found the low-volume group had an average operative time of 112.2 minutes, a PJI rate of 0.3%, and an SSI rate of 0.2%. The high-volume group had an average operative time of 96.5 minutes, a PJI rate of 0.3%, and an SSI rate of 0.1%. The ultra-high-volume group had an average operative time of 90.5 minutes, a PJI rate of 0.2%, and SSI rate of 0.1%. Despite differences in operative time, there were no statistically significant differences in infection rates across the three surgeon volume groups with respect to both SSI and PJI.

Dr. Westrich notes that infection rates for TKA across the surgeon volume groups are extremely low compared to other hospitals in New York State. “Our HSS  infection rates, which range from 0.1% to 0.3%, are among the lowest in the New York State and in our country,” he says. “At other New York State hospitals, infection rates can be as high as 2.0% or ten times higher than our institution.”

“Our findings demonstrate that at a high-volume academic orthopedic center, infection rates following total knee replacement remain uniformly low regardless of individual surgeon volume,” says Dr. Westrich. “This flies in the face of what we’ve been told historically about surgeon volume and infection rates. It’s not just the surgeon, it’s the institution that drives safety.”

“At HSS, controlling the risk of infection is among our highest priorities and most important accomplishments,” explains Dr. Westrich.  “Our low infection rates are achieved with a robust infection-control committee, extensive patient education, state-of-the-art operating rooms, infection-reducing surgical practices, enhanced sterilization methods, and highly disciplined infection-control practices. Together, these factors outweigh the volume of the individual surgeon.”

To improve patient safety and quality care at orthopedic centers, Dr. Westrich emphasizes the importance of strengthening institutional infrastructure and quality-improvement programs, rather than limiting low-volume surgeons’ access to TKA.  “Our study shows that even if you bring a surgeon on staff who is just starting out in their career, that doesn’t mean a patient going to that surgeon is at a greater risk of infection.  A rigorous, comprehensive approach to patient care with relentless focus on infection control at every stage provides the greatest protection from infection.”

Authors:  Josef Jolissaint, MD; Andrew Thomson, BA; Alexandra Grizas, MPH; Andy Miller, MD; and Geoffrey H. Westrich, MD

What follows are highlights from these studies:

Surgery Unnecessary for Most Adolescent Athletes with Lumbar Spine Stress Fracture

A new study by researchers at HSS shows that 95 percent of adolescent athletes who are diagnosed with acute spondylolysis heal with just rest, bracing, and physical therapy. These findings support treating patients with a conservative, non-operative approach and reserving surgery as a last-resort option.

“These results are important because when we sit with families to discuss treatment options, we can confidently tell them that the vast majority of patients do have resolution of their pain and are able to return to sports without having to undergo surgery,” explains Jessica H. Heyer, MD, a pediatric orthopedic and spine surgeon at HSS and senior author of the study.

Spondylolysis is a stress injury or fracture of the pars (a bone structure in the vertebrae located at the bottom of the lumbar spine) that often causes lower back pain. It is prevalent among teenage and pre-teen athletes, especially those who repeatedly bend backwards (hyperextend or twist the lower back) such as soccer players, rowers, baseball players, gymnasts, and football players.

The retrospective review included 179 children and teenagers diagnosed with spondylolysis between February 2016 and August 2024. According to the findings, 95% of the patients were free of pain and able to return to their activities after three months of rest, bracing, and physical therapy. Only 5% of this group went on to require surgery, which can involve either a direct repair of the pars with a screw, or a fusion around the pars injury.   

“We saw an excellent rate of return to sports and resolution of pain among the patients in our study,” notes Dr. Heyer, adding that the protocols for non-operative management of spondylolysis vary across the country.

“These results support our recommendation to restrict activity for a full three months and initiate physical therapy after 4 to 6 weeks of rest,” she says. “This period of restricted activity is important to allow for clinical improvement of pain and healing before deciding on whether surgery is needed.”

Growth Hormone Therapy May Increase Risk of Fractures in Children and Teens

A new study by researchers at HSS shows a strong association between growth hormone (GH) therapy and an increased risk of physeal fractures, a pediatric bone injury affecting the growth plate near the ends of long bones such as the wrist, fingers, and lower legs. These fractures are responsible for 15% to 30% of all childhood fractures and are common among adolescents who are active in sports. 

“We found that GH therapy was associated with an increased rate of physeal fractures in the upper and lower extremities,” says Emily Dodwell, MD, MPH, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at HSS and senior author of the study. “These findings are important because they provide more data to consider as we help families weigh the risks and benefits of GH therapy.”

Previous research has yielded contradictory findings about whether exposure to GH therapy increases the risk of physeal fractures.

“With prior studies being inconclusive, we wanted to investigate the potential association between GH and pediatric physeal fractures on a national basis,” explains Dr. Dodwell.

GH therapy is used to treat children who are diagnosed with GH deficiency[EN1] , certain genetic syndromes, short stature, and small for gestational age. GH therapy can help increase a child’s height, growth rate, and bone mineral density, and improve their body composition and key bloodwork parameters used to test for metabolic syndrome, diabetes risk, and overall cardiovascular health. However, it has also been linked to orthopedic complications, such as progression of scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and increased risk of slipped capital femoral epiphysis (a painful hip condition).

Dr. Dodwell and her colleagues used a nationwide insurance claims database to identify prevalence of pediatric physeal fractures in the upper and lower extremities with and without GH exposure. Their database search included 34,196 patients aged 4 to 18 years old who were given GH therapy for at least one month between 2010 and 2022 and were followed for two or more years. The researchers compared this group to the same number of patients who did not receive GH therapy during that time, taking into account age, sex, and weight.

The analysis found that GH therapy was associated with a higher rate of physeal fractures. These included fractures at the proximal humerus (arm near the shoulder), proximal radius (forearm near the elbow), distal radius (forearm near the wrist), distal ulna (wrist joint), distal femur (thigh bone above the knee joint), proximal tibia (upper shin bone below the knee), and distal tibia (lower shin bone near the ankle).

“This retrospective study was not designed to determine whether GH actually causes these fractures,” notes Dr. Dodwell. “Physicians should bear that in mind when counseling patients regarding the risks and benefits of GH therapy.”

Further research is needed to confirm these findings, she adds.

The first of the three studies, “Aspirin Versus Potent VTE Chemoprophylaxis (VTEC) in Total Knee Arthroplasty: Reduced Postoperative Pain and Complications with Aspirin Use,” examined the experience of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients with postoperative pain who were also taking blood thinners. The study included 28,169 patients treated between 2016 and 2023; 18,413 received aspirin while 9,756 received a potent VTE.. Patients were monitored for 90 days following their procedure. The findings suggest that aspirin should be considered the preferred option for reducing postoperative pain in TKA patients.

Patients on more-potent blood thinners tend to experience more pain, swelling and inflammation after surgery, said Brian P. Chalmers, MD, a hip and knee surgeon at HSS and one of the study’s authors. “We have always known that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications can improve patients’ swelling and inflammation after surgery. However, the traditional thought and belief has been that we should avoid those in patients on anticoagulation. Our data show there is less risk and less postoperative pain when these patients are utilizing aspirin.”   

A second study, “The Effect of Concomitant Use of Potent Anticoagulation and Anti-Inflammatories on Early Outcomes of Total Hip Arthroplasty,” retrospectively evaluated 5,881 total hip arthroplasty patients who were on anticoagulation. The surgeries were performed between 2016 and 2023; of those patients, 4,867 were concomitantly prescribed NSAIDs and 1,040 received anticoagulation alone. Researchers concluded that the concomitant use of NSAIDs in patients on anticoagulants did not increase the risk of wound-related bleeding complications.

“The conventional thinking has often been that patients on an anticoagulant should not be on an NSAID, that there is going to be bleeding, more risk of wound problems and additional complications. But based on our retrospective data, we did not see increased risk in patients using both anticoagulation and NSAIDs. We did see some additional benefits, including less pain and a somewhat easier recovery,” Dr. Chalmers stated. “NSAIDs appear to be safe in this setting and may help decrease postoperative pain and reduce opioid use following surgery.”

The final study, “Cefazolin and the R-1 Side Chain: Why Your Joint Arthroplasty Patients With Cephalosporin Allergy Can Safely Be Given Cefazolin,” assessed the safety and effectiveness of the antibiotic Cefazolin in patients with documented cephalosporin allergies. This is the first study to evaluate these questions.

From 2016 to 2024, researchers compared patients with a reported cephalosporin allergy who received perioperative cefazolin with those who received alternative antibiotic prophylaxis. This study included 89,993 hip and knee arthroplasty patients. Of these, 1,267 had a documented allergy. The study resulted in zero incidence of IgE-mediated or “severe” type IV allergic reactions, concluding that cefazolin can be safely administered to most patients with an existing cephalosporin allergy.

“When patients have a mild allergic reaction, there is often a reflex to give them another antibiotic in a different family of drugs. However, alternative options aren’t always as effective,” said Matthew S. Austin, MD, hip and knee surgeon at HSS and a study author. “Clear protocols should be put in place to guide decision-making when managing these types of allergies.”

These findings underscore HSS’s ongoing commitment to challenging conventional assumptions and using data-driven research to refine perioperative care. The studies highlight how targeted medication strategies can improve safety, reduce complications and enhance outcomes for patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasty.

Study Details 

“Aspirin Versus Potent VTE Chemoprophylaxis in Total Knee Arthroplasty: Reduced Postoperative Pain and Complications with Aspirin Use”

 Alex Anatone, Alexis Gabriel Gonzalez, Richard Hwang, David Andrew Kolin, Aaron Ira Weinblatt, Amar S Ranawat, Alejandro Gonzalez Della Valle, Brian Chalmers

“The Effect of Concomitant Use of Potent Anticoagulation and Anti-Inflammatories on Early Outcomes of Total Hip Arthroplasty”

Alexis Gabriel Gonzalez, Aaron Ira Weinblatt, Agnes Cororaton Jones, Stephen Lyman, Richard Hwang, Alex Anatone, Carlo Marega, Alejandro Gonzalez Della Valle, Brian Chalmers

“Cefazolin and the R-1 Side Chain: Why Your Joint Arthroplasty Patients With Cephalosporin Allergy Can Safely Be Given Cefazolin”

Josef Jolissaint, Katherine E Mallett, Andrew Thomson, Alberto V Carli, Matthew Austin

Psychological impairment following ACL reconstruction has long been recognized as a factor influencing an athlete’s ability to safely resume sport. Roughly one in three patients who undergo ACL reconstruction sustain a second ACL injury. While tools such as the ACL Return to Sports After Injury (ACL‑RSI) questionnaire are commonly used to gauge psychological readiness—including emotion, confidence, and risk appraisal—their relationship to actual re‑injury risk has not been well understood.

“We know that ACL injuries are not just physical—they have a profound psychological component,” said Riley J. Williams, MD, sports medicine surgeon and Chief of the Sports Medicine Institute at HSS. “What this research shows is that confidence can sometimes outpace true physical readiness. Athletes may feel mentally prepared to return before their bodies are fully capable of withstanding the demands of sport. That disconnect can increase their risk for re‑injury.”

The study compared ACL‑RSI scores between patients who sustained a second ACL injury and those who returned to sport without further injury.

A total of 58 athletes participated in the study (24 males, 34 females; mean age 23.5 ± 9.6). Of these, 21 athletes experienced a second ACL injury following their return to sport. All subjects completed return‑to‑sport testing at nine months post‑operation (±1 month) and filled out the ACL‑RSI questionnaire prior to physical testing.

Researchers tracked re‑injuries on both the operative (n=4) and non‑operative (n=17) sides. A matched control group was created based on age, sex, and graft type. Independent samples t‑tests were conducted to evaluate differences in ACL‑RSI scores between the groups.

“Our findings challenge the assumption that higher psychological readiness is always a positive indicator for return to sport,” said Letty Krueger, PT, DPT, lead researcher and rehabilitation clinical manager at HSS Westchester. “In this study, athletes who reported the greatest confidence were actually the ones at higher risk for re‑injury. This underscores the need to evaluate readiness through a combined lens of physical performance, psychological state, and clinical data—rather than relying on self‑report scores alone.”

Athletes who sustained a second ACL injury had significantly higher psychological readiness scores compared to those who did not:

• Re‑injury group: 86.8 ± 11.2
• Uninjured group: 75.5 ± 17.3
• p = .02

At nine months post‑operation, athletes who later experienced ACL re‑injury reported significantly greater psychological readiness than those who returned to play without further injury. These findings suggest that elevated confidence—while often viewed as a positive marker—may not reflect true readiness for the physical demands of sport and may be associated with increased re‑injury risk.

The study underscores the importance of a biopsychosocial approach, integrating psychological factors with objective physical and clinical measures when determining an athlete’s readiness to return to sport. Researchers note that while higher ACL‑RSI scores are associated with higher return‑to‑sport rates, this increased exposure may also contribute to elevated re‑injury risk.

“Contrary to expectations, athletes who felt more confident and emotionally ready to return to sport were more likely to suffer re‑injury,” said Answorth Allen, MD, sports medicine surgeon and associate surgeon‑in‑chief at HSS. “This research reinforces the importance of evidence‑based, multidimensional return‑to‑sport protocols. By integrating psychological screening with strength, functional, and biomechanical testing, we can make smarter, safer decisions that protect athletes and enhance long‑term outcomes.”

The findings indicate that psychological readiness scores—even when favorable—should not be used as a standalone metric for return‑to‑sport clearance. Elevated self‑reported confidence may mask underlying physical or functional deficits, potentially placing athletes at greater risk. Clinicians and sports medicine professionals should interpret psychological measures within the broader context of recovery, emphasizing functional testing and physical preparedness.

Further research is needed to explore how psychological factors interact with physical recovery in influencing return‑to‑sport outcomes and susceptibility to future ACL injuries.

For more information about the study visit: Psychological Readiness after Aclr in Subjects with Subsequent Re-Injury Compared to Matched Controls

Letty Krueger, PT, DPT, Michelle Cilenti, PT, DPT, Debi Lynn Jones, PT, Robert G Marx, MD, MSc, Answorth A Allen and Riley J Willams  

“We welcome Dr. Askanase to HSS and we are confident that her leadership and vision will help us to advance excellence in clinical care, research, education, and community service through the Department of Medicine and Division of Rheumatology,” said Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA, president and CEO and Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus at HSS. “HSS is also deeply grateful for Dr. Bridges, a highly respected physician-scientist whose leadership and legacy has profoundly advanced patient care and scientific discovery at HSS.” 

Dr. Askanase was selected following a rigorous, nationwide search led by an external executive search firm, which attracted a highly competitive pool of accomplished candidates from leading academic medical centers. She brings more than two decades of leadership in academic rheumatology. From 1999 to 2013, Dr. Askanase practiced at NYU Langone Health and the Hospital for Joint Diseases, where she developed a strong appreciation for the close integration of orthopedics and rheumatology in caring for patients with complex musculoskeletal disease. Since 2014, she has served on the faculty of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where she is a Professor of Medicine and founded and directs the Columbia Lupus Center. 
“Dr. Askanase is a distinguished and highly respected clinician-scientist who has made significant contributions to the fields of rheumatology and lupus. She approaches complex cases with extraordinary dedication and compassion and is a powerful advocate for populations disproportionately affected by rheumatic diseases,” said Douglas E. Padget, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief and Medical Director at HSS. “Her leadership will be an invaluable addition to our community. Her appointment underscores HSS’s commitment to the advancement of patient care practices by recruiting outstanding physician leaders in our clinical specialties.” 

A globally recognized clinician-scientist, Dr. Askanase has led or participated in more than 150 clinical investigations and has played a significant role in shaping national and international standards for rheumatologic care through leadership positions with the American College of Rheumatology, the Lupus Foundation of America, the Lupus Research Alliance, and the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics network. She is a clinician, diagnostician, and researcher specializing in complex Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), more commonly known as lupus. Her research in SLE encompasses epidemiology, outcomes research, and therapeutic clinical trials. Ongoing government-funded projects include the use of optical imaging to evaluate subclinical arthritis, the development of virtual lupus disease activity measures, and lupus education outreach to disparate populations. Dr. Askanase has been at the vanguard of cell therapy research and treatments for SLE and other autoimmune diseases; and she is the Global PI of several novel cell therapy programs and an Investigator Initiated Study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CAR-NKs. Her work in advancing patient-centered care models, clinical trials in autoimmune disease, and cell therapy initiatives aligns closely with HSS’s commitment to innovation and excellence across the continuum of musculoskeletal care. 

In her role at HSS, Dr. Askanase will provide strategic leadership in Rheumatology while overseeing the Department of Medicine, with a focus on strengthening collaboration across specialties, advancing clinical and translational research, and supporting excellence in patient care, education, and mentorship. 

“I feel privileged to have the opportunity to lead the renowned HSS Division of Rheumatology and Department of Medicine as we continue to advance and transform the science and practice of rheumatology and its related specialties,” said Dr. Askanase. “This is a pivotal moment for our field, with rapid progress in diagnostics, therapeutics, and personalized approaches to care. At HSS, we are uniquely positioned to translate these innovations into meaningful improvements in patients’ lives. Working alongside our esteemed colleagues in Orthopedics, we have an unparalleled opportunity to shape the future of musculoskeletal health worldwide—through clinical excellence, groundbreaking research, and a shared commitment to delivering the highest quality of care.” 
 

Wishing to give back to HSS for the care he received and inspired by how building Legos provided comfort and purpose during his own recovery, Devin hopes the sets he creates will encourage young patients and lift their spirits.

He came up with the idea one day while recalling his stay at HSS after surgery. “I shared a room with a boy my age who had cerebral palsy,” Devin explained. “He told me that he had 11 surgeries throughout his life. I thought about how Legos could help patients like him who are facing boredom, a lack of purpose, and other challenges, just like Legos helped me in my own recovery.”

To obtain used Lego donations, Devin and his mother posted a request in a Facebook Moms group. Boxes of Legos containing thousands of bricks—many random pieces—came pouring in! He uses an app that gives him ideas to create kits with 50 to 100 Lego bricks.

Patient Antonia Marotta of Long Island was pleasantly surprised to receive Devin’s gift at Lerner Children’s Pavilion this week. “It makes me feel great; it was really nice. Recovery can be really hard, so having something to do makes it a lot easier,” said 15-year-old Antonia.  

Antonia’s mother, Laura, was moved by Devin’s thoughtful gift. “The donation means a lot to us because the days are long here, so it’s been great to have something to pass the time,” she said. “But I think more importantly, it means a lot more coming from someone that actually sat in this hospital in this bed and really understands what it feels like to go through something like this.” 

Devin’s Injury

The Connecticut teenager suffered one of the worst knee injuries imaginable during a long jump event, tearing all four ligaments and dislocating his knee. After complex reconstructive surgery at HSS, the accomplished high school athlete faced a long and challenging recovery. His parents had an idea: could assembling Legos provide a welcome diversion, even comfort him? It worked!

“Building those huge Lego sets kept my mind sharp and kept my spirits up,” Devin explained. Unable to drive, play sports, work, or go places with his friends, he says the activity gave him a purpose during his 10-month recovery.

Referred to HSS for “One of the Most Challenging Surgeries”

After his injury, Devin and his parents consulted with several orthopedic surgeons in Connecticut. Due to the difficult surgery involved, he was referred to Dr. Anil Ranawat, Chief of Hip and Knee Preservation of the Sports Medicine Institute at HSS in New York City. “The surgeons we had consulted before Dr. Ranawat said it was a rare and complicated case, and they didn’t feel comfortable doing the surgery,” explained Jennifer Crowley, Devin’s mom.

“Tearing all four knee ligaments is one of the most devastating sports injuries someone can have,” Dr. Ranawat explains. “It is also one of the most challenging reconstructive surgeries to perform because you’re working around the nerves and arteries in the knee that must be protected.”

Dr. Ranawat performed what orthopedic surgeons call an “around the world surgery,” reconstructing all the ligaments in Devin’s knee. It took seven hours in the O.R.    

After his successful surgery, they kept in touch with phone calls and texts if Devin had a question in between doctor visits. “Devin was a phenomenal patient, he worked really hard. We became like friends,” Dr. Ranawat said. “It’s important to develop trust with your patients; you build a bond with them.”  

When Devin wanted to try the high jump wearing a brace after many months of rehab, Dr. Ranawat asked Devin to send him videos so he could monitor his progress. Now recovered, Devin recently broke his own record for the sport.  

A “Pass the Bricks” Ambassador

Devin is an ambassador for “Pass the Bricks,” a national nonprofit organization whose volunteers collect discarded Lego sets and parts to repurpose and rebuild them for kids who may not have access to the toy. Designing and assembling sets from random Lego bricks is painstaking work. In between schoolwork and applying to college, Devin says he is happy to devote the time needed if he can brighten the day of young patients at HSS.

For patients navigating complex conditions, finding the right provider can be challenging. HSS serves patients across multiple locations and a wide range of musculoskeletal subspecialties. The new AI-powered agent acts as an intelligent guide, understanding a patient's specific needs, medical history, and preferences to match them with the most appropriate physician and care setting.

"Getting patients to the right care quickly is fundamental to everything we do," said Dr. Ashis Barad, Chief Digital and Information Officer at HSS. "This technology allows us to meet patients where they are – by phone, text, or online, and provide immediate, intelligent support. It removes barriers to care and ensures every patient receives the expertise they need when they need it."

Available 24/7 online, though text and phone, this system provides consistent real time support regardless of when or how a patient reaches out. Unlike traditional scheduling tools that require patients to navigate complex menus or wait on hold, Ema's conversational AI understands natural language, asks clarifying questions, and takes action in real time: booking appointments directly into patients scheduling systems and sending confirmation details instantly.

For patients with urgent needs, the AI performs intelligent triage, assessing symptom severity and care requirements to prioritize appointments appropriately. For those seeking specialized care, it navigates HSS's wide range of subspecialists to match patients with the right provider, factoring in location preferences, insurance coverage, and physician availability.

The technology reflects HSS's commitment to staying at the forefront of healthcare innovation. As part of a three-year engagement, HSS will expand Ema's AI capabilities into internal operations, including HR and IT support, freeing clinical and administrative staff to focus on patient care rather than routine inquiries.

"World-class care starts with world-class access," said Surojit Chatterjee, CEO and founder of Ema. "HSS is setting a new standard for how hospitals can use AI to improve the patient experience. This isn't about replacing the human touch, it's about removing friction so patients spend less time waiting and more time healing."

Unlike rigid chatbots that fail when questions deviate from a script, Ema's agentic AI reasons through complex scenarios, adapts to individual patient needs, and learns continuously from interactions. The platform integrates seamlessly with HSS's existing systems, ensuring data flows securely and appointments are managed without disruption.

HSS's deployment includes built-in safeguards: every AI decision is auditable, human staff can step in at any point, and the system is trained specifically on HSS protocols, policies, and care pathways. Patient data remains secure and compliant with healthcare privacy regulations.

The result is a faster, more personalized care journey. Patients no longer navigate a maze of phone menus or wait days for callback confirmations. They get answers in seconds, appointments scheduled in minutes, and the confidence that they're seeing the right specialist for their condition.

About Ema

Ema is a horizontal agentic platform building enterprise AI employees. These AI employees automate complex, multi-step workflows across functions such as Human Resources, Customer Experience, Finance and Sales, delivering speed, precision, and security at an enterprise scale. Designed for regulated industries including Healthcare and Insurance, Ema is trusted by Fortune 500 companies worldwide and backed by leading investors like Accel and Section 32. The platform ensures trust through compliance-ready security, bias-mitigating Turing tests, and full source transparency. With a library of pre-built agents and dedicated deployment teams, Ema delivers fast time-to-value, enabling enterprises to move rapidly from proof-of-concept to secure, large-scale production deployments. Learn more at ema.co.

“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.

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 our 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.”

Another focal point of the CSSC at HSS is the development of a clinical registry to detect and study genetic indicators of risk for a variety of postoperative complications.

“This is next-level precision medicine, where we are using a person’s genetic makeup to mitigate certain risks or complications that they are likely to face after surgery,” explains Dr. Kim. “For example, if we find that somebody is genetically prone to infection or blood clots, we can give them medication to minimize or prevent those risks and ensure they have the smoothest recovery possible.”

To learn more or to request an appointment by submitting your case to the CSSC at HSS, please visit: https://www.hss.edu/departments/spine/complex-spine-and-scoliosis-center

Patient Success Story:

For 20 years, Long Island resident Susan had been living with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), an osteoarthritic condition that causes ligaments and tendons in the spine to calcify, leading to stiffness and pain. In 2023, after two traumatic falls, Susan endured a spinal cord injury, leaving the 57-year-old unable to lift her head. She scheduled an appointment with Dr. Kim for an evaluation for reconstructive surgery.

“I was totally looking down, and I couldn’t lift my head to see ahead of me. I was very limited, and it was challenging to get around with my walker. I would have been miserable if I had to live the rest of my life like that,” says Susan.

“I knew from my research that Dr. Kim was a superior surgeon, but I was also impressed with how he spoke to me and not at me, and used words I could understand,” Susan recalls. “I felt a connection with him right away and was relieved when he said he could help me.”

Susan had surgery in June of 2025 and after six weeks of recovery and rehabilitation, she says her life has changed for the better.

“Dr. Kim corrected my posture immensely so I can stand up straight, look forward, and see people ahead of me now. My chin is up!” she says. “He changed my appearance and made me look healthier, so I don’t appear distorted or in pain. I’m deeply grateful for what he’s done. Dr. Kim and the care team at HSS made such a meaningful difference in my life.

While Susan has some lingering weakness from the prior spinal cord injury and DISH, having surgery with Dr. Kim has improved her quality of life, allowed her to continue living independently and given her the chance to help care for her aging parents.

Dr. Fragomen succeeds S. Robert Rozbruch, MD, who founded the service in 2005 and has led it with distinction over the past 20 years. Dr. Rozbruch will continue practicing at HSS, focusing on his clinical work and research.

In his new role, Dr. Fragomen will oversee one of the foremost centers dedicated to limb lengthening and reconstruction worldwide—a highly specialized service providing treatment for a broad spectrum of conditions affecting the limbs. Patients from across the United States and around the world have come to HSS for the special expertise that the team offers.

“We are immensely grateful and thank Dr. Rozbruch for his many years of leadership as a clinician, researcher, and educator,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD, HSS Surgeon-in-Chief and Medical Director.  “Over the years, Dr. Fragomen has demonstrated his deep commitment to advancing the field of limb lengthening and complex reconstruction. He has played a key role at HSS and in the broader orthopedic community, often finding solutions for patients with the most complex conditions.”

Dr. Fragomen and colleagues provide expert care for patients with leg length discrepancies or deformities; limb malalignment and pain caused by bowlegs or knock knees; foot and ankle deformities; and complications related to bone healing, alignment or infection after trauma. Specialized practitioners also perform upper extremity lengthening and deformity correction; bone reconstruction or transport after tumor excision; limb salvage procedures; and osseointegration limb replacement for patients with an amputation.

“In addition to the skill and expertise of our highly specialized surgeons, our close collaboration with other services at HSS ensures coordinated and comprehensive care for patients with these complex medical problems,” Dr. Fragomen explains.

As Director of the Limb Lengthening and Complex Reconstruction Fellowship Program at HSS and a professor of clinical orthopedic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, Dr. Fragomen has a longstanding commitment to education and training. Over the years, he has served as a valued mentor to countless medical school students, orthopedic surgery residents and fellows.  

He has also welcomed surgeons from across the United States and around the world who come to HSS for monthlong observerships to learn advanced techniques and approaches to complex orthopedic challenges.

Dr. Fragomen is also deeply engaged in research and has published nearly 200 scientific papers and book chapters. He has presented his work at medical meetings across the United States and abroad and has lectured extensively on topics related to residency training programs. He is an active member of numerous professional organizations, including the Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Society-ASAMI North America, serving as the group’s president from 2019 to 2021.  

In his new role, Dr. Fragomen includes among his goals maintaining and enhancing HSS’s reputation as a world leader in patient care, research and education in limb deformity, limb lengthening, limb reconstruction and replacement. “We will continue to train the next generation of highly specialized orthopedic surgeons so they can bring safe and effective treatments to populations around the globe,” Dr. Fragomen said.  “At the same time, we remain committed to ensuring that patients here at home have access to the services and expertise they need.”

As HSS continues to expand its clinical footprint and influence, strengthening enterprise Nursing and clinical leadership remains a strategic priority to ensure consistent quality, patient safety, and operational excellence across the system.

“We are confident that under Ann Marie’s leadership, HSS will continue to advance Magnet-level excellence, improve clinical quality and patient-centered outcomes, and drive growth with discipline and distinction,” said Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA, president and CEO, and Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus, at HSS. “Her appointment to this new role reflects our commitment to fostering visionary leadership that strengthens our nursing practice and elevates the patient experience.”

In this role, Dr. McDonald will provide strategic leadership for Nursing across all sites and affiliates, with accountability for nursing quality, patient safety, workforce engagement, and the consistent application of HSS standards of care. In addition, she will oversee key clinical support services, including Pharmacy, Respiratory Therapy, and Laboratory Services, further strengthening system integration, performance management, and patient experience. Since September of 2025, Dr. McDonald has served as Interim CNE.

“Nursing is the foundation of our success, shaping every aspect of the patient experience and redefining excellence in musculoskeletal care,” said Mary E. Cassai, MPA, RN, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “Our nurses are innovators, advocates, and leaders who set the standard for quality, compassion, and collaboration across the enterprise—ensuring every patient receives care that is exceptional, transformative, and centered on their needs.”

Dr. McDonald is a Registered Nurse with more than 20 years of experience across clinical operations, quality, performance improvement, and regulatory compliance. She has deep expertise in federal quality programs and accreditation and represents HSS on national advisory groups supporting CMS and The Joint Commission. A registered nurse, she holds her master’s degree and doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she also served as adjunct faculty. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the New York Academy of Medicine. “HSS is setting the standard for musculoskeletal health, and I am excited to help lead this next chapter of growth and innovation,” said Dr. McDonald. “Together, we will empower our nursing teams, drive advancements in care delivery, and shape the future of health with purpose and impact.”

At HSS the Chief Nursing Executive leads a team of more than 1,500 specialized nurses across the continuum of care at locations in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida, overseeing support and advocacy for nursing quality, patient safety, nurse engagement, physician collaboration, and patient satisfaction. HSS is a recipient of the Press Ganey Pinnacle of Excellence Award®, which is based on patient surveys that include measures such as “Likelihood to Recommend,” “Overall Rating,” and “Teamwork.”

“We are proud of the strides HSS has made in nursing excellence and patient care, and we embrace both the responsibility and the opportunity to continue raising the bar,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD, surgeon-in-chief and medical director at HSS. “Ann Marie exemplifies our core values at the highest level, helping us fulfill our purpose of helping every person live the life they love through the power of movement.”

Dr. McDonald’s new role at HSS is effective immediately.

The alliance brings together Jupiter Medical Center, the region’s leading independent medical center, and HSS, ranked No. 1 in orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report for 16 straight years. Together, they will offer patients comprehensive orthopedic care—from diagnosis and surgery to rehabilitation—delivered with the highest standards of quality, safety and patient experience.

“Jupiter Medical Center and HSS share a commitment to excellence in patient care,” said Amit Rastogi, MD, MHCM, President and CEO of Jupiter Medical Center. “This relationship ensures that people in our community have direct access to the same orthopedic expertise trusted by patients of all kinds worldwide, including professional athletes.”

Raising the Bar for Orthopedic Care

Patients will benefit from a full spectrum of expertise in joint replacement, sports medicine, spine surgery, and rehabilitation. HSS physicians will perform surgeries at Jupiter Medical Center’s new Johnny and Terry Gray Surgical Institute. The hospital is also nearing completion of a new five-story Patient Care Tower, featuring dedicated facilities for state-of-the-art orthopedic care and rehabilitation. 

“This collaboration reflects a unique depth of shared responsibility and opportunity to increase access to the world’s highest quality orthopedic care in Palm Beach County,” said HSS President and CEO and Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA. For nearly half a century, Jupiter Medical Center has earned the trust of the community one patient at a time; HSS brings more than 163 years of unparalleled specialization in advancing care that is foundational to quality of life.  Jupiter Medical Center’s continued investment in innovation and technology aligns seamlessly with our mission to provide the best orthopedic care available anywhere.”

Recognition and Reputation

Jupiter Medical Center has recently been named one of Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals and one of Money’s Best Orthopedic Hospitals in the United States. It has also been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as “High Performing” in hip fracture, hip replacement, and knee replacement, and holds multiple Blue Distinction Center+ and Joint Commission certifications.

HSS, founded in 1863, is the world’s leading academic medical center focused solely on musculoskeletal health. Patients come for HSS care from all 50 States and more than 100 countries, including athletes from more than half of all teams in the MLB, NBA, NFL and NFL teams.  It is the Official Hospital of 15 professional sports teams worldwide, and the only Official Hospital of an entire sports league: UFC. Its research and education institutes drive new treatments and evidence-based practices that improve outcomes for patients everywhere.

A New Destination for Orthopedic Excellence

“This partnership will help make Jupiter Medical Center the premier destination for musculoskeletal care in the region,” said Ryan W. Simovitch, MD, an HSS sports medicine surgeon based in Florida. “Patients will have access to advanced care close to home, supported by the resources of a global leader.”

For information about Jupiter Medical Center, visit jupitermed.com or call 561-263-2234. For more information about HSS, visit hss.edu.

About Jupiter Medical Center
Jupiter Medical Center is rated No. 1 in the region for quality, safety, and patient experience. Its award-winning physicians provide comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care, including specialty centers of excellence in cancer, cardiovascular care, orthopedics, neurosciences, and women’s and children’s services. Learn more at jupitermed.com.

The award will have a tremendous impact on the ability of HSS to continue to educate trainees in the field which highly skilled practitioners are critically needed now more than ever. Through the program, trainees gain the knowledge and research skills necessary to build successful careers in metabolic bone disease. HSS is now uniquely positioned to continue providing training utilizing the comprehensive curriculum that is currently in place.

Alena Competello, MS, Director, Office of Education Development and Alumni Affairs in the HSS Education Institute, led this remarkable achievement in partnership with Matthew Drake, MD, Ph.D., Chief, Metabolic Bone Disease Service at HSS, Nathanaelle Raymond, Metabolic Bone, Endocrinology Fellowship Program Coordinator along with The Office of Academic Training within the Education Institute. Together, their efforts have secured critical resources that will significantly enhance the hospital’s ability to train future specialists in an area of growing clinical need.

"Through its academic programs, for more than 150 years, HSS has trained the minds, hearts, and hands of some of the finest clinicians dedicated to advancing musculoskeletal health.  A steadfast commitment to excellence in education dates to the Hospital’s earliest traditions and continues to influence its mission and vision,” said James W. Schroeder, Jr., MD, MBA, Chief Academic Officer at HSS. “We are honored to receive this grant which will help shape the next generation of leaders in metabolic bone disease.”

The conferences and forums trainees attend serve as invaluable platforms for continuous learning and collaboration, featuring monthly journal clubs that foster in-depth discussions on the latest research and advancements in the field. During their training, fellows learn how to evaluate laboratory, radiographic and histologic analyses of metabolic bone diseases.

“The Metabolic Bone Disease Program is truly unique. Trainees receive hands-on training and insights that simply aren’t available anywhere else. Our fellows complete the program prepared to make an immediate impact in a dynamic and growing field,” Competello said. “Receiving this recognition from Amgen further demonstrates the credibility of both HSS and this program. I am proud to be a part of this team, I look forward to seeing what this talented group will accomplish next.”

They participated through the Perry Initiative's Perry Outreach Program. “The goal of our program is to introduce students to all the exciting careers in orthopedics on both the surgical and engineering sides,” explained Amelia Knarr, PhD, executive director of the Perry Initiative. “Students get a real hands-on feel for the different types of procedures in orthopedics and also get to hear from successful surgeons and engineers. This benefits the students by showing them they are wanted, welcome, and capable of joining this exciting field.”

Under the guidance of HSS physicians, students participated in hands-on activities using plastic replicas of bones and tools of the trade such as drills and casts. They learned techniques that orthopedic surgeons use to repair broken bones, fix torn ligaments, apply a cast and suture a wound.

“The activities highlighted various biomechanical principles in orthopedics, demonstrating the integration of engineering in this field,” said Jessica Heyer, MD, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at HSS and event organizer. “They were excited to use orthopedic tools and enjoyed casting each other and learning how to suture.”

In addition to hands-on learning, the students attended lectures to get an idea of what it takes to become an engineer or an orthopedic surgeon and what their jobs are like on a day-to-day basis. “The students demonstrated great enthusiasm, asking thoughtful questions,” Dr. Heyer said.

Aarti Shenoy, PhD, an instructor of applied biomechanics at HSS, delivered an engaging lecture, sharing key moments in her journey to become an engineer. She highlighted the collaborative nature of her work – describing how she and her colleagues in the Biomechanics Department partner with HSS surgeons to design research studies to advance the field of musculoskeletal medicine.

“The Perry Outreach workshop was a valuable experience for the participants, as they were able to gain insight into what a career in orthopedics might entail,” she said. “Students gained a sense of accomplishment from completing tasks that may have seemed challenging at first. Through the hands-on activities, they were encouraged to envision themselves as surgeons or engineers.”

“I learned how to use a drill today, and then we drilled a bunch of screws into different bone models,” said Lina Bernatska, a junior at Staten Island Technical School, who gave the event a thumbs up. “It really inspired me as a woman to want to go into these fields where women are underrepresented, and it's so refreshing to see all these educated young women tell their stories and tell us about their journeys…to get to where they are in life.”  

Her classmate, Ava Glatman, said it was cool to learn about different orthopedic procedures, such as total knee replacements, and how to fix a broken ankle. Reflecting on the event, she said, “I think it's really meaningful, especially understanding that this is such an underrepresented field for women. Being able to see so many women that have succeeded in their field is really inspiring and motivates me to do something like that in the future.”

Students from high schools in New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut attended, including Bernards High School, Bronx High School of Science, Concord-Carlisle High School, Fairlawn High School, High School For Health Professions & Human Services, Newtown High School, Pascack Valley High School, Ridgefield High School, Saint Francis Preparatory School, Staten Island Technical School, Toms River High School South, Tottenville High School, University Heights Secondary School, Urban Assembly for Leadership and Empowerment.

For an astounding sixth time, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) has earned the nation’s top honor for nursing excellence from the Magnet Recognition Program^® of the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association.

HSS is the first hospital in New York State to receive Magnet status six times, building upon an already celebrated legacy: It was also the first hospital in Manhattan to earn the coveted status in 2002. Achieving five or more Magnet designations is extremely rare; less than one-half of one percent of Hospitals naionwide have at least six.

“Achieving Magnet status once again underscores our dedication to nursing excellence at HSS,” said Mary Cassai, MPA, RN, HSS Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer. “Earning this recognition is a testament to the skill, compassion and dedication our nurses bring to every patient interaction as well as the exceptional care HSS nurses provide.”

Hospitals recognized with Magnet status exemplify excellence in four areas: nursing philosophy and practice, commitment to national standards for patient care, leadership prowess and cultural sensitivity. Organizations must reapply for designation every four years, a rigorous process that includes a thorough evaluation of nursing services, clinical outcomes and patient care, as well as measurement against strategic goals.

“The sixth Magnet designation reaffirms what we at HSS already know: that HSS nurses deliver unparalleled care,” said Ann Marie McDonald, EdD, RN, FACHE, CPHQ, Interim Chief Nursing Executive at HSS. “Our dedication to our mission and core values inspires all of us each day. This is confirmation that the programs we have developed and put into place to ensure the very best patient care are not only successful but also industry standard.”

In addition to promoting nursing excellence and quality patient care, the Magnet culture empowers nurses and interprofessional teams through shared governance, professional development, evidence-based practice, and community outreach. This supportive environment enhances staff engagement, satisfaction, and retention, enabling caregivers to deliver exceptional, patient-centered care.

“We are incredibly proud of our nursing staff for achieving Magnet designation once again,” said HSS President, CEO and Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus Bryan Kelly, MD, MBA. “It reaffirms the central role our nursing teams play at HSS as leaders, innovators, and collaborators in delivering outstanding musculoskeletal care.”

“Our nurses not only deliver the highest quality of patient care but also serve as a resource in the community,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD, HSS surgeon-in-chief and medical director. “This tremendous honor reflects their tireless efforts to make each patient feel safe, comfortable, and valued while they are with us, and just as importantly, to foster a culture of compassion and support across HSS.”

“Today, we announce that we have reached an agreement with the nation’s highest-ranked orthopedic center. This important step gives city workers peace of mind, knowing that this leading national Center of Excellence will continue to be available to them. It also demonstrates to the City and its unions that HSS is an important partner in helping the City achieve its goal of preserving and protecting health care coverage for City workers. Our collaboration with HSS is rooted in our mutual commitment to increasing access to affordable, high-quality care for the working families of New York who are vital to our city," said Michael Costa, EmblemHealth's SVP of Provider Network and Population Health.

"HSS has been honored to provide New Yorkers with specialized orthopedic care for more than 162 years,” said HSS President, CEO, and Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus Bryan Kelly, MD, MBA. “We are delighted to continue collaborating with EmblemHealth to further increase access to the world's highest quality care for the New York City employees who keep the world's greatest city moving."

The New York City Employees (NYCE) PPO Plan was negotiated by the City of New York and the Municipal Labor Committee. The plan offers city workers a modernized program, access to a much larger network of healthcare providers, care team support for people with chronic disease, and the continuity of customer service from a team well known to city workers.

About EmblemHealth 

EmblemHealth is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health insurers, serving members across New York’s diverse communities with a full range of commercial and government-sponsored health plans for employers, individuals, and families. With a commitment to value-based care, EmblemHealth partners with top hospitals and doctors, including its AdvantageCare Physicians, to deliver quality, affordable, convenient care. At over a dozen EmblemHealth Neighborhood Care locations, members and non-members can receive community-based health and wellness guidance and resources. For more information, visit emblemhealth.com. 

“The HSS Digital Twin Platform is poised to impact all aspects of orthopedic care, fundamentally transforming how clinicians diagnose, treat and rehabilitate musculoskeletal injuries,” said Andrew D. Pearle, MD, Chief Emeritus of Sports Medicine and Program Director of the Digital Twin project. “Thanks to this transformational gift, HSS stands at the threshold of a new paradigm in personalized orthopedic care.”

“Longtime supporters of HSS, the Steers have been impressed by the continual efforts and commitment of HSS physicians and scientists to advance the standard of care in orthopedics,” said HSS President and CEO Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA. “Their incredible gift represents a landmark moment for HSS, transforming a bold idea into a reality and improving patient care through innovation.”

The development and clinical expansion of the HSS Digital Twin Platform in Orthopedics is a four-year project that brings together a multidisciplinary team of HSS surgeons, radiologists, biomechanical engineers and artificial intelligence and data specialists. The initial focus is on the knee, where surgeons will use the tool to create virtual 3D replicas from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and simulate how the joint moves and responds to different surgical options. The tool’s web-based interface will make it easy for surgeons to implement clinically and for patients to understand various scenarios and outcomes.

The HSS Digital Twin Platform is based on more than a decade of work by HSS orthopedic surgeons and biomechanical engineers who recently evolved their computational model of the knee to incorporate artificial intelligence and advanced image processing. In one of its first clinical applications, HSS knee surgeons have been using the tool to determine whether patients who require anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) revision surgery may benefit from an additional procedure to reshape the top of the shin bone, called a slope reduction osteotomy. The HSS Digital Twin Platform allows them to model this complex procedure virtually, one degree at a time, to predict how forces and knee motion will change. Dr. Pearle, along with HSS surgeons Drs. Danyal H. Nawabi, Mark J. Amirtharaj, and Thomas L. Wickiewicz, recently published a milestone paper in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, that demonstrated how the digital twin technology can help surgeons determine whether a slope reduction osteotomy is necessary and, if so, the precise surgical angle for reducing the risk of ACL re-injury.¹ These early applications showcase the platform’s potential to guide precise surgical decisions while laying the foundation for broader use across other joints and procedures.

The potential for the HSS Digital Twin Platform to transform surgical planning and personalized care and provide long-term support for continual innovation inspired the Steers’ decision to make this extraordinary gift to HSS. An endowed chair—the Lauren and Robert Steers Chair in Orthopedic Research and Innovation—also funded by the gift, will be held by Dr. Pearle and will provide long-term support to advance future discoveries in the field.

“We look forward to scaling up the HSS Digital Twin Platform to optimize orthopedic care with unprecedented precision across HSS,” Dr. Pearle said. “After scaling up knee applications, we plan to create digital twins for hip and shoulder. Ultimately, we envision a future where all HSS patients will have online access to a digital twin care companion that aggregates comprehensive musculoskeletal data with the potential to replace the traditional medical record.”

Reference

¹ Sagittal Slope-Reducing High Tibial Osteotomy Decreases Anterior Cruciate Ligament Force and Coupled Internal Tibial Rotation Under Pivoting Loads: A Computational Modeling Study. 

Authors: Mark J. Amirtharaj, MD, Reza Pourmodheji, PhD, Mitchell G.A. Wheatley, PhD,

Julien Leluc, MD, Andrew E. Pechstein, PhD, Jacob M. Hirth, BS, Michael K. Parides, PhD,

Thomas L. Wickiewicz, MD, Andrew D. Pearle, MD, Matthieu Ollivier, MD, PhD,

Carl W. Imhauser, PhD, Danyal H. Nawabi, MD.

About HSS

HSS is the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics (for the 16th consecutive year), No. 3 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2025-2026), and the best pediatric orthopedic hospital in NY, NJ and CT by U.S. News & World Report “Best Children’s Hospitals” list (2024-2025). In a survey of medical professionals in more than 20 countries by Newsweek, HSS is ranked world #1 in orthopedics for a fifth consecutive year (2025). Founded in 1863, the Hospital has the lowest readmission rates in the nation for orthopedics, and among the lowest infection and complication rates. HSS was the first in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center five consecutive times. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State, as well as in Florida. In addition to patient care, HSS leads the field in research, innovation and education. The HSS Research Institute comprises 20 laboratories and 300 staff members focused on leading the advancement of musculoskeletal health through prevention of degeneration, tissue repair and tissue regeneration. In addition, more than 200 HSS clinical investigators are working to improve patient outcomes through better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat orthopedic, rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. The HSS Innovation Institute works to realize the potential of new drugs, therapeutics and devices. The HSS Education Institute is a trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal knowledge and research for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, academic trainees, and consumers in more than 165 countries. The institution is collaborating with medical centers and other organizations to advance the quality and value of musculoskeletal care and to make world-class HSS care more widely accessible nationally and internationally. www.hss.edu.

A pars fracture ­— also called spondylolysis — is a break in the pars interarticularis, a narrow area of bone connecting two vertebrae in the spine. It typically occurs in the lumbar spine (lower back). About 7 percent of all adolescents experience a pars fracture, and that number can rise to as much as 50 percent among teens engaged in high-risk sports such as gymnastics, football, and soccer.

While these injuries can heal on their own after a six- to eight-week break from sports, one in five adolescents continues to experience a non-healing fracture (nonunion). The pain often returns after resuming activity, and some athletes have been told to quit sports entirely. "Nonunion can cause persistent back pain and, in certain cases, even require lumbar fusion later in life if the fracture results in a vertebral slip, where the vertebrae slip out of place," explained Austin Kaidi, MD, an orthopedic surgery resident at HSS and the study's lead author.

About seven years ago, HSS spine surgeon Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, Co-Chief of HSS Spine and the study's senior author, began using a spine surgery robot to plan the placement of surgical screws in novel ways. His work sparked a shift in the way the HSS surgeons approached pars fracture repairs.

The new minimally invasive technique involves the placement of a single screw through a 1 cm incision — far smaller than traditional surgery to repair a pars fracture, which is performed through a larger incision and requires bone grafting. The robotic procedure is performed on an outpatient basis and is associated with an easier, shorter recovery.

Study: Robotic Pars Repair Allows Early Return to Activity for Adolescents with Symptomatic Spondylolysis: A Case Series

Dr. Kaidi, Dr. Qureshi, and their colleagues performed a retrospective review of nine adolescent patients with lumbar spondylolysis (mean age 16) who had robotic-assisted pars repair at HSS using the single-screw technique. Patients had endured back pain before the surgery for an average of 8 months. After surgery, they participated in an 8-week physical therapy program that started with walking and gradually re-introduced sports-specific exercises.

After a mean follow-up of 11.4 months, five patients had returned to the same or an even higher level of sports. One patient had residual back pain and did not return to sports. Three patients had CT scans at one year demonstrating union of the fracture. The athletes were able to return to activity in as little as six weeks. "Although nonsurgical treatment should always be tried before considering surgery, we were surprised by the effectiveness of this technique for enabling athletes to return to sport," said Dr. Kaidi.

HSS is a leader in robotic-assisted single-screw pars repair and one of only a handful of institutions worldwide who have published on this technique. This study is the largest series ever reported in these patients.

"This safe and effective procedure is changing the way the medical community thinks about these injuries. We are moving away from 'do nothing for 6 weeks' to a more elegant, proactive solution," concluded Dr. Qureshi. “Early minimally invasive spine surgery can prevent future complications. We're not only caring for patients while they are young, but also helping them in the long run.”

Reference

Robotic Pars Repair Allows Early Return to Activity for Adolescents with Symptomatic Spondylolysis: A Case Series

Authors: Austin Kaidi MD, MSc, Michelle Zabat, MD, Amy Xu, MD, Adin Ehrlich, BS, Tomoyuki Asada, MD, PhD, Harvinder Sandhu, MD, Russel Huang, MD, Sravisht Iyer, MD, and Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, MBA

New York-based Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is the world’s largest academic medical centre focused on musculoskeletal health. Specialized for more than 160 years, HSS has consistently held leading positions in rankings of orthopaedic providers in the USA and globally. Schulthess Klinik and HSS have now formed a strategic partnership to further promote international exchange in the fields of orthopaedics, research, and training. The aim of the cooperation is to strengthen the medical and academic excellence of both institutions through knowledge exchange, joint research projects and the focused development of early-career talent.

A wide-ranging alliance spanning clinical care, research, and clinical training

The collaboration is founded on four main objectives: promote the continuous exchange of knowledge and expertise, expand scientific collaboration through joint research initiatives, focus on the shared development of education and training programmes to support professional growth, and collaborate on administrative and technological matters. This will ensure a holistic and forward-looking approach to advancing orthopaedic medicine.

Joint research initiatives are a central focus of the collaboration. At the heart of these efforts is the integration of emerging technologies such as apps, wearables, motion analysis and artificial intelligence. These tools support the development of personalised treatment approaches by enabling more precise functional assessments and patient-specific insights. The findings are expected to contribute to further improved long-term treatment outcomes and quality of life for patients.

Specialists from both institutions will have the opportunity to participate in reciprocal observerships. The long-standing exchange programme, which has been in place for over 15 years, will be expanded to include a structured fellowship programme with clearly defined training objectives. In addition, regular continuing education activities will be established to further strengthen professional development.

Working together for patient well-being

Rodolphe Eurin, CEO of Schulthess Klinik, said: “We are delighted about the alliance with HSS. It will enable us to strengthen international knowledge transfer and sends a clear signal for the continued advancement of cutting-edge orthopaedic medicine and its outcomes. Together, we are improving the quality of life for orthopaedic patients around the world."

Prof. Dr. med. Michael Leunig, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Hip Surgery at Schulthess Klinik, said: "Through targeted exchange of experiences and best practices with HSS and other leading clinics and research institutions, we can not only further advance our medical excellence, but also jointly advance innovative research projects and ensure the highest standard of patient care in the long term."

Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA, President & CEO and Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus of the HSS, also emphasised the importance of this collaboration: “The further strengthening of our relationship with Schulthess Klinik, one of Europe’s leading orthopaedic clinics, marks an important milestone in the expansion of our international network. Together, we can share and deepen our expertise, further advance therapies, and improve medical training for the benefit of patients. Our goal is to raise the global standards of orthopaedic care and make world-class care even more widely accessible.”

About Schulthess Klinik

Schulthess Klinik is one of Europe’s leading orthopaedic clinics with around 1,200 employees. As a specialist orthopaedic clinic, it primarily focuses on providing sophisticated treatments of the musculoskeletal system. The focus is on orthopaedic surgery, spinal neurosurgery, neurology, rheumatology, manual medicine and sports medicine. With over 11,100 operations and more than 131,400 outpatient consultations in the 2024 financial year, it continued to pursue its primary objective of relieving people of their pain and restoring their mobility. Schulthess Klinik accepts patients with both general and supplementary health insurance.

Founded in 1883, the clinic has been financially supported by the Wilhelm Schulthess Foundation since 1935. Its long-standing tradition of research is a testament to the clinic’s commitment to continually improving treatment.

AIM is designed to operate as an engine driving the development of novel medical devices, therapeutics, AI-enabled software, and other compelling innovations that improve movement, performance, patient care, and healthy longevity. The alliance will seek to unite traditional R&D capabilities like prototyping and engineering with the operational know-how, regulatory experience, and real-world validation with a focus on high-impact technologies in the musculoskeletal health and rheumatology market. HSS has specialized in these fields for more than 160 years.

Half of American adults experience a musculoskeletal health issue at some point in their lifetimes, and that percentage is expected to rise with the aging of the Baby Boomers. Musculoskeletal conditions are the leading cause of disability in the United States, degrading quality of life and creating a significant socioeconomic burden with healthcare costs approximating $420B in 2018. The prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions rises sharply with age, and as older adults become increasingly physically active, researchers predict a 123% increase in sports-related injuries in adults 65 and older through 2040. Fifty-six percent of Gen-Zers consider fitness a “very high priority,” and with their growing focus on healthspan, report a willingness to spend 110% more than Baby Boomers in exchange for a year of healthy life. Meanwhile, athletes, sports teams, and sports leagues are also looking for innovative solutions for injury prevention, diagnoses, and treatment. The NFL alone incurred $500M in costs due to musculoskeletal injury during the 2019 season.

“HSS represents one of the world’s largest concentrations of expertise in musculoskeletal health, known to advance the highest-quality care and quality of life so that people can get back to doing what they need and love to do most reliably and efficiently,” said Bryan Kelly, MD, MBA, President, CEO, and Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus of HSS. “We believe that combining forces with Deerfield provides us with a powerful new avenue to fulfill that mission by co-developing and supporting innovations that carry the potential to change clinical practice, patient outcomes, and overall quality of life for the better.”

HSS’s academic rigor and clinical leadership is bolstered by an expansive global network of orthopedic surgeons, physician-scientists, specialists, and entrepreneurs who make up a nexus and magnet for innovation across all aspects of the continuum of care, while Deerfield brings a comprehensive platform of operational capabilities in healthcare built over decades, including a team of over 180 professionals, many of whom are scientists, clinicians, engineers, and specialists. Cross-functional teams like Deerfield Discovery and Development (3DC), Deerfield’s internal therapeutics R&D engine, and Deerfield Intelligence, the firm’s growing data and artificial intelligence arm, will team up with HSS clinicians and scientists and endeavor to quickly and rigorously evaluate and operationalize new technologies for the benefit of patients.

Promising innovations may be piloted and tested in real-world clinical environments, supporting early refinement with patient and clinician feedback. The alliance’s integrated resources – including state-of-the-art laboratory and medical device incubation facilities located at Deerfield’s headquarters, as well as HSS’s clinical and scientific expertise – aim to compress timelines for bringing new technologies to patients while ensuring rigorous validation and adherence to compliance and quality control standards.

“As a firm dedicated to innovation, we are extremely excited about the ability of HSS and Deerfield to extend active, healthy living during a period when demographics will drive extraordinary need and demand.”  said Jim Flynn, Managing Partner at Deerfield. “The strengths and capabilities of HSS and Deerfield are highly complementary and the potential for creating valuable innovations is extraordinary.”

Dr. Schroeder joins HSS from Northwestern University, where he held joint appointments as Professor in the departments of Medical Education and Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine. During his more than two decades of service, he helped to strengthen educational infrastructure and develop sustainable governance models through multiple leadership roles in graduate and undergraduate medical education and faculty development, including as inaugural Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Surgery at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and as Assistant Designated Institutional Official (DIO) at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University. McGaw is a not-for-profit consortium that supports graduate medical education for more than 1,200 residents and fellows across over 180 accredited and non-ACGME programs affiliated with the Feinberg School of Medicine.

Trained as an otolaryngologist, Dr. Schroeder was also the long-time Program Director of the Pediatric Otolaryngology Fellowship at Lurie Children’s Hospital—one of the highest-rated programs of its kind in the country. His clinical expertise lies in the management of pediatric sinonasal, airway and swallowing disorders, and his research focuses on pediatric dysphagia related to congenital and acquired airway conditions. He has published more than 70 scientific articles and book chapters and he lectures frequently on these topics. Dr. Schroeder plans to continue his clinical practice at Weill Cornell Medical Center.

At HSS, Dr. Schroeder will oversee all graduate and continuing medical education programs, academic promotions, alumni relations, community health needs, credentialing and other scholarly activities. He will also play a central role in advancing HSS’s educational vision through expanded interprofessional learning, enhanced faculty development, and a focus on ensuring that residents and fellows have the mentorship, resources and learning environments they need to thrive.

“Education is central to our mission and to the advancement of musculoskeletal care worldwide,” said Douglas E. Padgett, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief and Medical Director at HSS. “Dr. Schroeder’s leadership and depth of experience will help shape the next generation of physicians and ensure that HSS remains at the forefront of medical education and innovation.”

“I’m honored to join the talented team at HSS at a moment when changing healthcare needs and innovation in healthcare delivery are redefining what’s possible in musculoskeletal medicine,” said Dr. Schroeder. “As technology continues to reshape the way we provide the highest quality care to more people today, it reinforces our need to embrace and lead the changing paradigms of medical and surgical education for the healthcare leaders of tomorrow. I’m proud to help guide the future direction of our renowned education programs and to make expert musculoskeletal knowledge more accessible and relevant to clinicians everywhere.”

Based on the study results, HSS is honored to be recognized on Newsweek’s list of the World’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2026.

Statista publishes hundreds of worldwide industry rankings and company listings with high-profile media partners. This research and analysis service is based on the success of statista.com, the leading data and business intelligence portal that provides statistics, relevant business data, and various market and consumer studies and surveys.

Joe Leinbach, RightMove Health Chief Executive Officer

Positioned for Growth

Leinbach joins RightMove as the company launches multi-state value-based partnerships with national and regional strategic payers and scales a collaboration with one of the world's largest employers.

RightMove's care model was developed in partnership with the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS)—the world's #1 orthopedic hospital. Leveraging HSS' proprietary care pathways for 95+ conditions, RightMove delivers same-day diagnostic triage and navigation, connecting patients to virtual and in-person care through aligned partnerships with top orthopedic providers. Its AI-driven platform connects PCPs, specialists and PT clinics to drive engagement, improve outcomes, and reduce costs.

A forthcoming study in partnership with a leading national health system demonstrates that RightMove's approach engaged more than 70% of targeted patients, with an 85% average reduction in pain and 96% achieving targeted functional goals. Previous HSS research has shown that patients completing RightMove's evaluation are 60% less likely to require advanced imaging and 80% less likely to proceed to surgery.

Leadership Team with Deep Value-based Care Expertise

Leinbach most recently served as President & COO of Synapticure, where he expanded nationwide access to specialty neurology care for patients with dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions. He was previously General Manager of New Markets at Cityblock Health, leading the implementation and operation of full-risk partnerships with health plans across several states. He also held leadership roles at Evolent Health, building partnerships with health systems and health plans to implement value-based primary and specialty care programs.

Co-founder and interim CEO David King will continue as President, where he will lead strategic growth and partnership development with health plans and provider networks.

"Movement is the key to staying mentally and physically well, especially as we age," said Leinbach. "A lack of access to primary care and misaligned incentives for specialists often means MSK care is driven by misdiagnoses and costly, ineffective treatments. RightMove offers a better path, developed in partnership with HSS and powered by technology that makes high-quality care easy to access. I'm excited to join RightMove at a time of rising demand for value-based MSK solutions to help scale our impact nationwide."

Leinbach joins an expanded leadership team, including:

• Adrian Thomas, MD, MBA, CMO – HSS-trained orthopedic spine surgeon and former Medical Director at Cohere Health, with deep experience in MSK value-based initiatives.
• Meghan Oliver, COO/CPO – Veteran operator with 15+ years scaling value-based models; former CPO of Curai Health with leadership roles at Bright Health, UnitedHealth Group and Optum.
• Harrison Frist, Executive Chair – Former CEO and COO of naviHealth; led through significant national growth and sale to UHG; previously with The Carlyle Group and Goldman Sachs.

"Joe brings a rare combination of operational depth and proven ability to scale value-based care models in partnership with leading health plans," said Frist. "With his experience and our strengthened team, RightMove is well-positioned to become the premier MSK risk partner for health plans nationwide."

About RightMove Health

RightMove Health is a value-based MSK care company built on the clinical expertise of Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). Its hybrid virtual and in-person model offers the industry-leading FirstMove™ diagnostic triage for 95+ conditions, physical therapy, and care navigation to top providers. RightMove partners with health plans and employers to reduce costs, improve outcomes, and enhance patient experience. RightMove operates nationally with hub offices in New York City, NY, Nashville, TN and Washington, D.C.

A recent study conducted by researchers at HSS and presented at the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) annual meeting demonstrated that there is a way for outcomes following hip and knee replacement surgeries to be measured more efficiently without compromising accuracy. Alexander S. McLawhorn, MD, MBA, hip and knee surgeon at HSS and one of the authors of the study, shared his perspective.

At HSS, we are dedicated to ensuring patient experience and safety remain our top priorities, while also reducing the unnecessary regulatory burden for the hospital. This study indicated that outcome measurement after hip and knee replacement can be accurate and reliable even if hospitals don’t collect PROMs for a majority of patients. More than 740,000 Medicare beneficiaries undergo primary total hip or knee replacement each year, that number is expected to increase to 1.2 million by the year 2030, making this a critical time to address this topic.

 Capturing feedback from as many patients as possible can become an administrative burden for everyone involved. There are many different stakeholders when it comes to PROMs, including regulatory, research and clinical teams. Each of these areas requests PROMs from patients at different points in their journey, uses PROMs differently, and requires different levels of reporting for their needs.

-Alexander S. McLawhorn, MD, MBA

Our proposed solution is collecting carefully chosen samples, which can still lead to accurate results. For very high-volume institutions like HSS, you are not losing any accuracy in terms of your measurement by measuring fewer patients. Our research also suggests that this more efficient approach could result in a significant overall reduction in administrative burden, particularly since most total hip and knee replacements are performed at high-volume centers. The net effect would be a large reduction in unnecessary data collection, an increase in operational efficiency and cost savings.

This approach is not applicable to all institutions. In fact, our findings revealed that lower-volume institutions may not experience the same benefit of a streamlined process. If a low-volume hospital only submits 50% of their cases, you may have very inaccurate assessment of quality. In some cases, you may need 100% reporting for some very low volume institutions.

HSS undertook this research because of our dedication to advancing patient safety and care quality. It is important that patients know the measures of quality for different institutions. What we are proposing is a strategy that will allow patients to receive information in a more efficient way. This research is intended to move a very important policy conversation forward. Changes involving CMS can take a significant amount to implement.  If we are able to adapt this common-sense approach patients and healthcare institutions everywhere will benefit.

HSS has been and will continue to be a leader in this space and instrumental in defining these tools now and well into the future.  

The Quiet Knee protocol, which some HSS surgeons began implementing several years ago, takes a more conservative approach to knee replacement recovery than traditional clinical protocols. This new technique focuses on controlling inflammation and swelling postoperatively through restricted mobility and passive range of motion (ROM) and aggressive cryotherapy (icing) for the first 10 days immediately following surgery. This contrasts with standard protocols, which often emphasize early and aggressive movement that can cause inflammation in surgical tissue that is healing.

All HSS total knee replacement patients from 2020 to 2024 were retrospectively reviewed as part of the study. A Quiet Knee group consisting of 271 patients received structured postoperative care and monitored telerehabilitation. One comparison group was given Quiet Knee guidance verbally, while a second cohort followed traditional early motion postoperative therapy.   

 “Patients are told they have to work really hard to get motion back after surgery—the no pain, no gain type of mentality,” said Brian P. Chalmers, MD, a hip and knee surgeon at HSS and one of the authors of the study. “The problem with that is that the more patients do in the early period of recovery—the more they bend, the more they are up and walking—the more the knee will swell.”

Every person undergoing TKA experiences pain and swelling after surgery, but the intensity differs, making the patient’s recovery process more challenging and often more painful than most other surgeries.

“It’s not uncommon to see a counterproductive early physical therapy program that is too aggressive,” Dr. Chalmers said. “In these cases, the knee becomes very swollen, which causes patients to have more pain. As the knee becomes more inflamed and patients are able to bend it less, it just becomes a cycle.”

Under the Quiet Knee protocol, patients avoid intensive physical therapy immediately after surgery, allowing the body time to heal before progressing to motion and other strength work. Early results suggest this approach helps set the stage for a smoother long-term recovery. The study also showed that the protocol significantly reduced 90-day opioid exposure by more than 25%.

“This isn't a surgeon-driven protocol or a research-driven protocol. It's a physiology-driven protocol,” said Michael P. Ast, MD, Chief of the Knee Service and Chief Medical Innovation Officer at HSS and co-author of the study. “It is a recognition of what the human body goes through in recovery from surgery. It is a very logical way of respecting the body's inflammatory response to trauma. Early on after surgery, less really is more. That is really the guiding principle of this protocol.”

Study Details

A Retrospective Cohort-Based Analysis of the “Quiet Knee” Protocol After Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty

Pravjit Bhatti, Lauren Moeller, Michael P Ast, Tony Sicheng Shen, Peter Keyes Sculco, David Jacob Mayman, Brian Chalmers

HSS researchers piloted and evaluated a custom-tailored AI (CTAI) platform that was trained on patient education content developed and approved by HSS surgeons. They found that patients were able to easily access and interact with the chat bot, which provided on-demand, personalized, accurate information about their surgery.

“Our study showed that most patients found the technology easy to use and helpful in making them feel ready and confident going into surgery,” says Eytan M Debbi, MD, PhD, hip and knee replacement surgeon at HSS and senior author of the study.

HSS investigators partnered with Aidify to develop the CTAI agent to address patient questions related to total joint arthroplasty (TJA) procedures such as hip and knee replacement surgery. Orthopedic surgeons at HSS trained the chat bot with their specific surgical protocols so that patients could receive personalized content that reflects their expertise.

Patients undergoing orthopedic procedures frequently face confusion and anxiety before surgery and are often dissatisfied with printed educational materials that can be hard to understand and not tailored to their needs. However, patients in the study gave Aidify high marks for responses that were useful, understandable, and complete.

“This platform can provide round-the-clock access to reliable, doctor-specific guidance and reduce the risk of getting inaccurate or irrelevant information from other general-purpose tools like Google or Chat GPT,” says Karlos Zepeda, DO, clinical research coordinator at HSS and lead author of the study.

The study included 40 patients scheduled to undergo TJA at HSS. Among the 32 patients who used the chat bot, about 85% said they understood the responses to their questions and 75% reported that it helped them feel well prepared for surgery. More than 80% of patients stated they would recommend the platform to others.

“I think patients get a lot of comfort knowing they have access to the chat bot because it gives them the sense that they can always be in contact with our office and get their questions answered whenever they need it,” explains Dr. Debbi.

Patients in the study were emailed a link to the interactive platform trained on information about the surgery they were going to have. They could then type their questions into the chat bot and get responses instantly.

The CTAI tool addressed a wide range of questions that focused mostly on concerns leading up to surgery and on recovery. These included activity guidelines, medications, what to expect after surgery, dietary guidance, pain management, wound care, and potential complications. The bulk of patients’ questions came in before surgery, while the number and frequency of questions diminished after surgery.

“Our findings show that CTAI improves patients’ health literacy, which enables more understanding, confidence, and preparedness before surgery,” says Dr. Zepeda. “This directly impacts patients’ overall satisfaction and care experience.”

The most unexpected finding, according to the authors, was the number of study participants who were able to access and navigate the platform. Most people who need TJA are over the age of 55, so there was a concern that older patients in the study might have some difficulty using AI technology.

“I was surprised that older patients were able to deal with the technology as easily as they did and be as satisfied as they were with it,” observes Dr. Debbi, who adds that some patients preferred interacting with the chat bot over their surgeon. “Surgeons cannot be available to patients 24 hours a day, but AI can review things with multiple patients at a time, whenever and as many times as they want without physician burnout, so that’s a huge benefit.”

CTAI streamlines communication and reduces the burden of repetitive or nonurgent questions on busy clinical staff. “The power of AI can extend the surgeon and their team to more patients by efficiently addressing patient concerns in real time and ensuring that they consistently receive the right information exactly as their surgeon intended,” explains Dr. Zepeda.

If the platform doesn’t know the answer to a question or there is an emergency, it will prompt the patient to contact their doctor’s office, call 911, and/or use the My Chart/Epic patient portal to send in their question to the appropriate provider, who would be notified of the issue and respond or escalate as needed. 

“We are still in the research phase and very carefully monitor every question that comes in to make sure nothing slips through the cracks,” notes Dr. Zepeda.

The study authors agree that their findings support continued refinement of CTAI as a tool to improve the delivery of patient education and care at HSS, but more research is needed to expand its use. For example, the technology does not currently have access to specific patient information.

“Only when we are confident in the technology and that patient information is secure will we enable AI to fully interact with patients’ electronic medical record and integrate it as standard of care at HSS,” says Dr. Debbi. “The potential of CTAI is unlimited. The sky’s the limit and we’re just scratching the surface right now.”