A mobile app that empowers patients to avoid unnecessary spine surgery.
What's the Problem?
A lot of spine surgery is unnecessary -costing us billions of dollars and causing untold suffering.
How did we get here?
Information Silos
Patients don’t have the information they need to make good spine care decisions.
Misaligned incentives
Spine surgeons often don’t have the patient’s best interest at heart.
What's our Solution?
Demystify your Spine
Understand what your MRI report and scan actually show.
Understand your Symptoms
So that you and your doctor can identify the appropriate treatment.
Honestly assess your Self
So that you can feel better sooner and avoid unnecessary treatment.
Find the right surgeon
One with your best interest at heart.
Connect with Others
So you can share your experience and learn from each other.
Our Team
Dr. Jack Moriarity
- Board certified Neurosurgeon
- Stanford B.S. and M.D.
- Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery
- USC Marshall MBA
Brent Hamstreet
- Santa Clara University Computer Engineering
- Senior Software Developer
- RMS, Loopnet, Insurdata
Emilie Mueller
- University of Michigan,
Computer Science & Environmental Studies
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Download the mobile app
Coming 2024
Frequently Asked Questions
The five parts of the Spinely platform are each designed to help patients overcome the barriers that prevent them from identifying appropriate spine care for their problem. These 5 parts are described here.
There are two parts to an MRI scan. One part is the MRI report – which is a document produced by the radiologist who read the study for the imaging center. Unfortunately, the MRI report is usually filled with so much medical jargon that a patient is unable to understand it. Another part of the MRI is the scan itself – which is the images a spine surgeon would use to decide what treatment to recommend. Spinely helps patients understand both of these parts by reviewing the MRI and providing a report in plain English and we also show the patient a key image from their MRI and explain the findings. Most importantly, Spinely gives the patient an understanding of whether or not their MRI shows a problem that should (or should NOT) be treated with surgery.
There are three things to think about when choosing a surgeon: their intellectual,
technical and ethical traits. The intellectual part can sometimes be guessed by where a
surgeon went to school or where they were trained. Unfortunately, this does NOT mean
much in terms of whether this is the right surgeon to choose.
A surgeon’s technical skill (how good they are with their hands in surgery) is an important factor, but it is very hard for a patient to discern this, and it is also not the most important factor. At Spinely, we believe the most important factor to consider is the ethical characteristics of your surgeon – do they have the patient’s best interest at heart? Unfortunately, the answer is often “no”. At Spinely, we have developed a unique algorithm (based on a number of data points) that can help patients answer this important question.
NO! Spinely is not meant to replace the care of a qualified, ethical spine provider. It is meant as a patient aid and educational tool that empowers patients to make better
decisions in their spine care.
Spinely only uses a patient’s data to help educate that patient about their spine care.
The characteristics of a patient’s spine problem are also used to place that patient in a Spinely group so that they can communicate with others who have their same problem.
Any other use of patient data would only be with the consent of the patient.