By Elizabeth Landry
In December 2025, orthopedic care at St. Joseph’s Health in Syracuse entered a new, exciting chapter: a brand-new practice, St. Joseph’s Health Orthopedic and Spine Care, was launched as part of St. Joseph’s Physicians. With offices located in Fayetteville and Camillus, the practice includes a team of five board-certified, fellowship-trained surgeons: Kevin Kopko, MD, Medical Director of Joint Surgery; Bradley Raphael, MD, Medical Director of Sports Medicine; Aaron Bianco, MD; Justin Iorio, MD, Medical Director of Spine Surgery; and Prashant Deshmane, MD.
Although the practice is new, the providers each bring over ten years of experience gained by
practicing orthopedics and spine care both locally and around the country. “Early on,
when you start right out of fellowship, experience can be lacking. But with us in this practice,
all of us have a combined 50-plus years of experience. To me, that’s a huge differentiating point that distinguishes us from other practices,” said Dr. Deshmane, who specializes in adult
reconstruction, shoulder surgery and sports medicine, and is the most recent addition to the team of surgeons, joining the practice in April.
In addition to depth of experience, each provider brings sub-specialty orthopedic expertise, from joint replacement to spine surgery, sports medicine, and neck and back care, that all add up to a largely comprehensive service line offering that’s highly accessible to both referring providers and patients, alike.
“I think that we have a really knowledgeable, comprehensive team that offers great access
to high-quality care,” said Dr. Iorio.
Sub-Specialty Depth in an Integrated Setting
As the single orthopedic and spine practice integrated within the hospital system, St. Joseph’s Health Orthopedic and Spine Care can quickly connect with many specialized health care providers, offering the “best of both worlds” from inpatient and outpatient care, as Dr. Raphael explained.
“I think something that sets us apart from other practices is that interdisciplinary ability and service that we can provide for patients by having multi-specialties – not just multi-orthopedic specialties, but multi-medical specialties, as well,” Dr. Raphael said. If the surgeons have a question for or need to set up an appointment with other practitioners, such as cardiologists or neurologists, those connections are just a phone call or message away. “I have all these resources at my disposal, literally at my fingertips through our electronic medical records system, EPIC. On top of that, it’s an outpatient office. It’s really a great interdisciplinary program.”
Dr. Raphael, who was born and raised in Syracuse, followed in the footsteps of his father, Dr.
Irving Raphael, to practice sports medicine. He also specializes in shoulder and knee treatment, as well as cartilage and joint preservation. Both he and Dr. Deshmane have provided care for professional athletes and major sports teams around the country.
When it comes to joint surgery, Dr. Kopko specializes in both full hip and knee replacement, as well as partial knee replacement and revision surgery for previous joint replacements. He emphasized that the practice sees many patients who are looking for a second opinion. “We’re willing to see patients for almost anything,” said Dr. Kopko. “We’re not going to turn patients away because they’ve been seen by another orthopedic practice or had surgery elsewhere.”
The spine side of the practice is 
led by Dr. Iorio, who specializes in cervical, thoracic and
lumbar surgery, spinal tumors and degenerative conditions, and Dr. Bianco, who specializes in treatment of the neck and back. Both Dr. Iorio and Dr. Bianco discussed the upcoming exciting addition of the EOS full-body x-ray imaging system, which will facilitate comprehensive care for patients and enhance how the group’s providers can work together across sub-specialties, as Dr. Iorio explained.
“The EOS is hugely important between spine providers and hip providers like Dr. Kopko and Dr. Deshmane because the imaging Dr. Bianco and I are getting now includes the joints they’re evaluating,” Dr. Iorio said. “I’ll see patients understanding they have a spine condition, and
learn they also have a problem in the hip joint, for example. We’re getting a better analysis of
patients and working together as a single team of orthopedic surgeons at the same time.”
Advanced Technology and Minimally Invasive Options
The EOS is a prime example of how the St. Joseph’s Health Orthopedics and Spine Care team is utilizing the latest technology available to provide patient-centered care. Rather than stitching together separate x-ray images to get a full-picture view of patients’ needs, as was done previously, the EOS system provides 2D and 3D images of the full skeletal system, helping better inform surgeons in the planning and diagnosis process. St. Joseph’s Health Orthopedics and Spine Care is currently the only practice between Rochester and New York City to utilize this technology.
“The EOS system can also incorporate spinal pelvic parameters, and it uses AI technology and the cloud to help inform decisions about surgical corrections, degenerative changes and spinal deformities,” Dr. Bianco explained.
Perhaps the most well-known cutting-edge technology utilized by the new practice is one surgeons at St. Joseph’s Health Hospital have been using for many years: minimally-invasive, robotic-assisted surgery and navigation. Dr. Deshmane explained how robotics help minimize patient dissatisfaction from imprecise placement of joint replacement components, especially for younger, high-demand patients.
“For these patients, it’s important to make sure you do the joint replacement surgery in a way that’s personalized, meaning your shoulder is different than my shoulder, is different than somebody else’s shoulder,” stated Dr. Deshmane. “Whether it’s computer navigation or robotics, these advanced technologies allow us to dial in on placement of components based on each particular patient’s anatomy. That’s the reason I’m particularly interested in these technologies.”
St. Joseph’s Health also uses the TrackX surgical navigation system and is currently the only
facility in the Syracuse area to have a Mako 4 robot, which is made by Stryker. Dr. Kopko described this robot as the gold standard in robotics for joint replacement, helping to improve patient alignment and reducing risk.
“With patients who have abnormal anatomy and present a potentially challenging surgery, the
robot is kind of like a GPS guidance system to make sure you know where you’re going. It’s almost like having a second surgeon in the room because it helps you better understand and plan what to do next,” said Dr. Kopko, adding that the Mako 4 is indicated for especially complex revision surgeries on patients who’ve had a previous joint
replacement – cases which sometimes needed to be referred out in the past, but that can now be performed by the St. Joseph’s Health Orthopedic and Spine Care group.
In the realm of sports medicine, an exciting non-surgical treatment option the practice offers is orthobiologics utilizing platelet-rich plasma, or PRP. Dr. Raphael described the treatment as a straightforward, in-office procedure that isolates platelets, or growth factors, from the patient’s blood, and then injects them in the needed areas, healing the body with its own tissue rather than a foreign substance that may cause additional tissue deterioration. He said it’s especially useful for treating early arthritis, helping to regrow deteriorated cartilage in a less invasive way. Orthobiologics is one way the team is working on injury prevention and surgery avoidance in sports medicine, Dr. Raphael emphasized.
“Many injuries can be prevented, and we’re trying to educate patients and use non-operative, less invasive treatments with physical therapy as much as possible,” said Dr. Raphael. Dr. Bianco echoed this strategy, explaining that treatment decisions are patient-centered and aimed at the most conservative, least invasive methods available: “Our goal is focused on patient outcomes. We want excellent patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, and improved patient function.”
Efficient Access, Communication and Continuity of Care
An important aspect of the new practice that greatly enhances patient experience is improved access for both patients and referring providers alike, made possible by the group’s integration within the St. Joseph’s Health network. Rather than communicating via text messages or phone calls as they did before, St. Joseph’s Health practitioners now use Epic, one of the biggest medical record systems in the world, to send messages instantly to each other directly within patients’ charts. This improvement in communication
allows more care coordination between referring physicians and surgeons, including consult feedback, co-management of patient needs and post-procedure follow-up.
“It’s infinitely easier when you’re on one medical record system to talk to primary care doctors and to follow patients. Patients can also message us directly through MyChart, which is huge, and they can make appointments through that system as well. It’s the standard across many healthcare facilities in our area – not just at St. Joseph’s,” stated Dr. Kopko.
Whether patients come into the practice through referrals from their primary care providers or if they contact the practice directly for an appointment – which is more common with younger patients needing sports medicine treatments in particular – each member of the practice emphasized how patients can be seen quickly. This ease of access helps overcome traditional barriers to care.
“I think that above all else, we want providers to be able to refer to us so we can get patients seen and there aren’t any barriers. We really try to make it easy for them, and we welcome them to reach out to us directly,” said Dr. Iorio. Both clinic locations offer walk-in hours, and most patients can be seen within a week, if not on the same day. Dr. Iorio also explained that patients are seen on a timely schedule following surgery or treatments, often for at least one or two years.
More Growth to Come in Years Ahead
Reflecting on the success of the practice so far and looking ahead to what’s next, the surgeons at St. Joseph’s Health Orthopedics and Spine Care are excited to build on the team’s progress and momentum.
“I’ve been practicing at St. Joseph’s for 15 years now, so for me, I knew how great of a place it is,” said Dr. Raphael. “I knew how incredible of a hospital system it is, with all the ancillary and inter disciplinary services. I knew that St. Joseph’s had all these incredible programs for a long time, but it didn’t have a dedicated orthopedics department. This has been a great opportunity to help build this department within the St. Joseph’s network.”
“I think for myself and my partners, we’re extremely happy with our new roles within St. Joseph’s and how the practice has treated us and allowed us to grow even in just the first four months. We’re very blessed to be part of this new practice,” said Dr. Bianco. “There’s an intent to expand the practice to essentially all orthopedic sub-specialties, like hand, foot and ankle, and ultimately a third location, which will allow us to bring on more providers as space allows.”
It all comes down to providing
the highest level of care to patients, however, as Dr. Deshmane emphasized. “Looking at it from a patient’s perspective, they just want to know that they have options,” he said. “Our practice comes up as a very valid option in our community, with a lot of experience under our belt.”
Interesting conversation with a patient last week about their mounting health care debt. Higher premiums, higher deductibles, higher co-pays, more out of formulary uncovered meds all adding up to $45,000 in annual out of pocket costs.
Disputes in the health care sector are inevitable. Whether they arise between physicians in a group practice, between an ambulatory surgical center and its member surgeons, or between a hospital system and an affiliated provider, conflicts over governance, compensation, non-compete agreements, or operational decisions can quickly consume the time, energy, and resources of all involved. Litigation has long been the default mechanism for resolving such conflicts, but it is rarely the best one. Mediation particularly when guided by an experienced health care attorney serving as mediator offers a faster, more cost effective, and more relationship-preserving alternative that deserves serious consideration.