Global Pain Initiative: Changing the Way People with Pain are Treated
Christopher J. Winfree, MD, FAANS Department of Neurological Surgery, Columbia University New York, NY Pain management in American is currently undergoing a renovation. In the early 2000s, it became apparent that undertreated chronic pain was a huge health care problem. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) commissioned a detailed investigation into the status of pain health […]
Neurosurgery Putting Patient Safety First
Guest post written on behalf of The CSNS Patient Safety Ad Hoc Committee Abdul-Kareem Ahmed (left) Medical Student at Brown University Providence, Rhode Island Kristopher T. Kimmell, MD (right) Neurosurgical Resident, University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY Since neurosurgical pioneer Harvey Cushing invented the modern anesthesia record and helped lower the morbidity and mortality […]
AANS Spotlight: Healthcare Reform and Neurosurgical Education
AANS Neurosurgeon is the official socioeconomic publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), and features information and analysis for contemporary neurosurgical practice. It focuses on topics related to legislation, workforce issues and practice management as they affect the specialty of neurosurgery. The December 2014 edition of AANS Neurosurgeon considers what may lay in […]
GME Changes: Are we in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
Guest Post from Maya A. Babu, MD (left) Neurosurgical Resident, Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN and Brian V. Nahed, MD (right) Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston, MA The recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report heralding potentially major changes in the world of graduate medical education (GME) funding has brought […]
IOM Releases New Report on Sports Concussion in Youth
Guest Blog from Julian E. Bailes, MD Bennett-Tarkington Chair Department of Neurosurgery, NorthShore University HealthSystem Co-Director, NorthShore Neurological Institute Recently, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council, with support from several other government agencies and private groups, issued a 306-page report entitled: “Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture.” This […]
Study Finds Medicare Spending Variations Due to Health Differences NOT “Overtreatment”
For many years, healthcare policy researchers have put forward the notion that Medicare spending variations across the U.S. are solely due to wasteful practices and overtreatment — an idea that neurosurgery has repeatedly challenged. A recent study, published in the journal Medical Care — Research and Review, agrees with us that this simply is not […]