Janet's Story: How Janet got back to her active life after Dr. Daniel Tobert removed a spinal cyst
A cyst on her lumbar spine was causing immense pain for Janet. She saw Dr. Daniel Tobert in the Orthopaedic Spine Center to have that cyst removed.
About Daniel Tobert, MD
Dr. Dan Tobert is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopaedic spine surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He received a BS in Chemistry from Hope College and his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed orthopaedic surgery residency through the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program at MGH, followed by sub-specialty fellowship training in complex spine surgery at the University of Utah.
Dr. Tobert treats the full spectrum of adult spinal disorders, from common degenerative conditions to the most complex spinal tumors. The majority of his surgical practice addresses common conditions of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine—including stenosis, spondylolisthesis, disc herniations, and revision fusion surgery. He also routinely performs the most complex spine oncology procedures, including en bloc spondylectomy and sacrectomy for primary tumors of the mobile spine and sacrum. Through the MGB Cancer Institute, he works with a multidisciplinary team at the Mass General Cancer Center to treat patients with primary and metastatic tumors of the spinal column.
Dr. Tobert is actively engaged in research on degenerative and oncologic spine disease, with particular interests in patient-reported outcome measures and surgical innovation. He is Co-Principal Investigator of the OASIIS Lab at MGH, serves as Deputy Editor of Spine, and is a member of the AO Spine Knowledge Forum–Tumor, an international group dedicated to advancing the care of patients with spinal tumors. He believes that clinical research forms the foundation of empathetic, individualized patient care.
Departments, Centers, & Programs:
Clinical Interests:
- Adult and pediatric spinal tumors
- Adult spine reconstruction
- Cervical spine
- Cervical stenosis
- Degenerative spinal conditions
- Laminectomy
- Lumbar spine
- Lumbar stenosis
- Metastatic bone disease
- Minimally invasive spine surgery
- Myelopathy
- Sarcomas
- Spinal fusion
- Spondylolisthesis
- Thoracolumbar spinal injuries
Treats:
- Adult
Locations
Orthopaedic Spine Service
55 Fruit St.
Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care
Suite 3A
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-724-8636
Orthopaedic Spine Service at Newton-Wellesley Hospital
159 Wells Ave.
Newton, MA 02459
Phone: 617-724-8636
Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center at Foxborough
22 Patriot Place
Foxboro, MA 02035
Phone: 617-724-8636
Medical Education
- MD, Columbia University in the city of New York
- Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Fellowship, University of Utah Hospital
American Board Certifications
- Orthopaedic Surgery, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
- Cigna
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Coventry
- Fallon Health
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Humana
- Maine Community Health Options
- Mass General Brigham Health Plan
- MassHealth
- Medicaid CT
- Medicaid ME
- Medicaid NH
- Medicaid RI
- Medicare
- Medicare ACO
- Multiplan
- Railroad Medicare
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- Tufts Medicare Preferred
- United Health Care
- Wellpoint
- WellSense
- WellSense NH
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
Dr. Tobert's primary research focus is optimizing patient outcomes through improved decision making. Specifically, this involves utilizing improved metrics and statistical techniques to better understand which patients benefit from surgical or non-surgical treatments.
Dr. Tobert is a Principal Investigator in the the Orthopaedic Augmentation, Surgical Innovation, and Interactive Systems Lab (OASIIS). Dr. Tobert is working on projects related to the Mass General Brigham orthopedic registry. As part of this work, Dr. Tobert and his team have developed dashboards that allow a surgeon to assess and address their own surgical outcomes in real-time.
Publications
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Select publications:
- Tobert DG, Kelly SP, Xiong GX, Chen YL, MacDonald SM, Bongers ME, Lozano-Calderon SA, Newman ET, Raskin KA, Schwab JH. The impact of radiotherapy on survival after surgical resection of chordoma with minimum five year follow-up. Spine J. 2022 Apr 22. PMID: 35470086
- Tobert DG, Yeung CM, Morse CR, Lee SG, Schwab JH. Anterior Column Reconstruction with Vascularized Rib After Thoracic Spondylectomy: A Case Report. JBJS Case Connect. 2022 Jan 20;12(1). PMID: 35050933
- Schoenfeld AJ, Ferrone ML, Blucher JA, Agaronnik N, Nguyen L, Tobert DG, Balboni TA, Schwab JH, Shin JH, Sciubba DM, Harris MB. Prospective comparison of the accuracy of the New England Spinal Metastasis Score (NESMS) to legacy scoring systems in prognosticating outcomes following treatment of spinal metastases. Spine J. 2022 Jan;22(1):39-48. PMID: 33741509
- Karhade AV, Bono CM, Schwab JH, Tobert DG. Minimum Clinically Important Difference: A Metric That Matters in the Age of Patient-Reported Outcomes. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2021 Dec 15;103(24):2331-2337. PMID: 34665785
- Bernstein DN, Lans A, Karhade AV, Heng M, Poolman RW, Schwab JH, Tobert DG. Are Detailed, Patient-level Social Determinant of Health Factors Associated With Physical Function and Mental Health at Presentation Among New Patients With Orthopaedic Conditions?. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2022 Oct 6. PMID: 36201422
- Karhade AV, Bernstein DN, Desai V, Bedair HS, O'Donnell EA, Tanaka MJ, Bono CM, Harris MB, Schwab JH, Tobert DG. What Is the Clinical Benefit of Common Orthopaedic Procedures as Assessed by the PROMIS Versus Other Validated Outcomes Tools? Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2022 Sep 1;480(9):1672-1681. PMID: 35543521
- Tobert DG, Le HV, Blucher JA, Harris MB, Schoenfeld AJ. The Clinical Implications of Adding CT Angiography in the Evaluation of Cervical Spine Fractures: A Propensity-Matched Analysis. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2018 Sep 5;100(17):1490-1495. PMID: 30180057
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