Stu Weinstein steps down from UW Spine Service Line

After dedicating this past year of his “retirement” serving as the Medical Director for Non-Surgical Care for the UW Spine Service Line, Stuart “Stu” Weinstein, MD, will truly begin his full retirement in May 2023. In this role, Dr. Weinstein has made tremendous contributions to the care of spine patients. His collaboration on the service line was instrumental in the development of the Non-Surgical Spine Care Companion which launched January 31st. This plan is now assigned to MyChart-active PM&R Spine patients based on Visit Diagnosis (back or neck pain) via a Best Practice Alert (BPA). The Care Pathway provides education for back and neck pain and a PROMIS 10 questionnaire at 0, 30, and 90 days. This plan will help patients and providers along the non-surgical spine journey.

Over 500 patients have been enrolled in this Care Companion already. Dr. Weinstein also helped lead the inaugural Spine Stakeholder Summit in March which brought together a key group of spine provider representatives from throughout UW Medicine to begin the process of building a truly interdisciplinary spine program. Additionally, he helped modernize our UW Spine website landing page (launching soon) and update our online information for patients with low back pain.

Emilie Jones, Spine Service Line Administrator, notes, “Dr. Weinstein has worked collaboratively with myself and the chairs of Neurological Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery over the last year to getting the Spine Service Line off the ground. He was critical in developing a Spine Strategic Plan that includes a focus on the future of non-surgical spine care. I can’t thank Dr. Weinstein enough for partnering with me over the last year.  I am so grateful for the time and effort he put into the numerous projects we partnered on and for everything I’ve learned from him.”

Dr. Joe Ihm, Professor, will replace Stu Weinstein as the Medical Director for Non-Surgical Care for the UW Spine Service Line effective May 1, 2023.

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