Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to Reimburse Small Bone Innovations, Inc.'s STAR(TM) Total Ankle Replacement
SBi is an orthopedics company focused exclusively on serving patients and their physicians with technologies and treatments for joint replacement (arthroplasty) and post-traumatic reconstruction of the small bones & joints of the thumb, fingers, hand, wrist, elbow, toes, foot and ankle.
According to SBi, more than 90 percent of the approximately 175 million members of commercial insurance plans in the U.S. now have access to the STAR ankle replacement surgery, when deemed clinically appropriate by experienced surgeons.
“The STAR ankle is the first and only total ankle replacement system to have performed successfully in the FDA’s rigorous pre-market approval (PMA) process,” said James A. Nunley II, MD1, Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. “The compelling clinical data from the prospective, multi-center U.S. Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) STAR Ankle clinical trial, initiated in 2000, has been instrumental in the current stream of favorable coverage decisions by insurers as well as independent non-profit health care institutions.” Dr. Nunley is a clinical investigator in the STAR clinical trials who has assisted in SBi’s effort to benefit patients by changes in reimbursement policies.
“The STAR ankle is the only total ankle replacement indicated for use as a ‘non-cemented’ implant to replace painful ankle joints affected by osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and post-traumatic arthritis. In the IDE clinical trials, the STAR ankle was deemed superior in efficacy and comparable in safety when compared to fusion, for treating ankle arthritis,” Dr. Nunley added.
1 Dr. Nunley is paid consultant to SBi - providing education services.
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About Small Bone Innovations, Inc
Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi), founded in 2004 by Viscogliosi Bros., LLC, the New York-based merchant banking firm specializing in orthopedics. SBi is the first company to focus purely on treating disease and trauma in the small bones & joints through a broad, clinically proven portfolio of products.
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http://www.totalsmallbone.com/us/press.php4.
Contacts
Small Bone Innovations, Inc. Varun Gandhi, 212-583-0370 ext. 2126 vgandhi@totalsmallbone.com
Source: Small Bone Innovations, Inc.