Spine Executive Vice Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Program Director, Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Christopher M. Bono is an experienced adult spine surgeon with particular interest in the management of cervical and lumbar degenerative disorders. He is a national and international leader in spinal research and evidence-based medicine, enabling him to incorporate the latest treatment data into patient discussion for informed surgical decision-making.
Dr. Bono is a board-certified, fellowship-trained adult spine surgeon in the Orthopaedic Spine Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Bono obtained his medical degree (MD) from the State University of New York (SUNY) Health Science Center at Brooklyn (now called SUNY Downstate Medical Center). He next completed his orthopaedic residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Medical School (now called Rutgers New Jersey Medical School). Dr. Bono completed a spine surgery fellowship at the University of California, San Diego.
Dr. Bono specializes in cervical spinal stenosis, cervical myelopathy, cervical disc herniations, lumbar spinal stenosis, lumbar disc herniations, and lumbar spondylolisthesis.
Dr. Bono is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He is past president of the North American Spine Society (2015-2016) and continues to be quite active in a number of committees. Dr. Bono is the current Editor-in-Chief of The Spine Journal, which holds the highest impact factor among journals dedicated to spine. Dr. Bono is also a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Cervical Spine Research Society, and the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, holding or having held many leadership positions in these societies as well.
Orthopaedic Spine Service 55 Fruit St. Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care Suite 3A Boston, MA02114 Phone: 617-724-8636
Medical Education
MD, SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Residency, UMDNJ New Jersey Medical School
Fellowship, UC San Diego Medical Center
American Board Certifications
Orthopaedic Surgery, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Accepted Insurance Plans
Aetna Health Inc.
Beech Street
Blue Cross Blue Shield - Blue Care 65
Blue Cross Blue Shield - Indemnity
Blue Cross Blue Shield - Managed Care
Blue Cross Blue Shield - Partners Plus
BMC HealthNet Mass Health MCO/ACO
Cigna (PAL #'s)
Commonwealth Care Alliance
Fallon Community HealthCare
Great-West Healthcare (formally One Health Plan)
Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan - ACD
Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan - PBO
Health Care Value Management (HCVM)
Humana/Choice Care PPO
Maine Community Health Options (MCHO)
Mass General Brigham Health Plan - ACD
Mass General Brigham Health Plan - PBO
MassHealth
Medicare
Medicare - ACD
Medicare ACO - ACD
Medicare ACO - PBO
OSW - Connecticut
OSW - Maine
OSW - New Hampshire
OSW - Rhode Island
OSW - Vermont
Private Health Care Systems (PHCS)
Railroad Medicare
Railroad Medicare - ACD
Senior Whole Health
TriCare
Tufts Health Plan
Unicare
United Healthcare (non-HMO) - ACD
United Healthcare (non-HMO) - PBO
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
Dr. Bono’s research is focused on assessing the results of common spinal conditions, focusing on patient-reported outcomes.
Publications
Select publications:
Makanji H, Schoenfeld AJ, Bhalla A, Bono CM. Critical analysis of trends in lumbar fusion for degenerative disorders revisited: influence of technique on fusion rate and clinical outcomes. Eur Spine J. 2018 Mar 15.
Miller LE, McGirt MJ, Garfin SR, Bono CM. Association of Annular Defect Width After Lumbar Discectomy With Risk of Symptom Recurrence and Reoperation: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Comparative Studies. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2018 Mar 1;43(5):E308-E315.
Fehlings MG, Kopjar B, Ibrahim A, Tetreault LA, Arnold PM, Defino H, Kale SS, Yoon ST, Barbagallo GM, Bartels RHM, Zhou Q, Vaccaro AR, Zileli M, Tan G, Yukawa Y, Brodke DS, Shaffrey CI, Santos de Moraes O, Woodard EJ, Scerrati M, Tanaka M, Toyone T, Sasso RC, Janssen ME, Gokaslan ZL, Alvarado M, Bolger C, Bono CM, Dekutoski MB. Geographic variations in clinical presentation and outcomes of decompressive surgery in patients with symptomatic degenerative cervical myelopathy: analysis of a prospective, international multicenter cohort study of 757 patients. Spine J. 2018 Apr;18(4):593-605.
Schoenfeld AJ, Sturgeon DJ, Burns CB, Hunt TJ, Bono CM. Establishing benchmarks for the volume-outcome relationship for common lumbar spine surgical procedures. Spine J. 2018 Jan;18(1):22-28.
En'Wezoh DC, Leonard DA, Schoenfeld AJ, Harris MB, Zampini JM, Bono CM. Relationship between size of disc and early postoperative outcomes after lumbar discectomy. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2017 Jun;137(6):805-811.
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Please join us in congratulating the 13 Mass General orthopaedic surgeons named Top Doctors by Boston magazine for 2022. This impressive achievement is a testament to the commitment of our clinical team to providing safe, high-quality care while ensuring an exceptional patient experience.