Rate of Return to Military Active Duty after Single and Two-level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: A Four Year Retrospective Review
Luis Manuel Tumialan, MD, FAANS Neurosurgeon, Barrow Neurological Institute Scottsdale, Ariz. Can a member of the United States Marine Corps return to unrestricted full duty after a cervical fusion? How about a Navy SEAL or a Navy F-18 fighter pilot? Wearing a 60-pound rucksack for hours, parachuting from 11,000 feet, diving into the depths of […]
Cross Post – Anniversary of Konrad Reuland Tragedy Reminds Us of the Toll of Brain Aneurysms
From time to time on Neurosurgery Blog, you will see us cross-posting or linking to items from other places when we believe they hit the mark on an issue. Today’s post originally appeared in The Conversation on Nov. 21, 2017. In the article, Brian L. Hoh, MD, FAANS, FACS, FAHA, a neurosurgeon from Gainesville, Fla., […]
Cost Post – Impact of Insurance Precertification on Neurosurgery Practice and Health Care Delivery
Pre-authorization, prior authorization or precertification is a tool insurance companies use to limit the amount of services they provide for their customers. In essence, it’s a simple way to reduce costs by delaying or not approving planned, non-emergency (elective) surgery for patients who need it. The inefficiency and lack of transparency associated with prior authorization […]
EHR Interconnectivity Challenges Continue to Impact Patient Care
Guest post written by multiple neurosurgeons and neurosurgical residents from Stanford University Medical Center. Eric S. Sussman, MD, Neurosurgery Resident; Arjun V. Pendharkar, MD, Neurosurgery Resident; Allen L. Ho, MD, Neurosurgery Resident; Anand Veeravagu, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Assistant Professor Orthopedic Surgery and Director of Minimally Invasive NeuroSpine Surgery; and John K. Ratliff, MD, […]
Cross Post – Bipartisan Payment System Improvements Mean More Physician Participation and Better Patient Care
Since we are smack dab in the middle of our focus-month on physician regulatory relief, we wanted to highlight an opinion piece published by The Hill featuring the Alliance of Specialty Medicine and neurosurgery’s own Alex B. Valadka, MD, FAANS, FACS, president of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. The article, “Bipartisan payment system improvements […]
Faces of Neurosurgery: Dr. Ann Stroink, a Tireless Advocate
Guest post from Kristopher T. Kimmell, MD (left) Neurosurgeon at North Kansas City Hospital/Meritas Health North Kansas City, MO Tyler Martin Schmidt, DO (middle) Neurosurgical Resident at University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY Gabrielle Santangelo (right) Medical Student at University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY Patients often face difficult decisions regarding their health, […]
Faces of Neurosurgery: A Marathon of a Different Kind
Tyler Martin Schmidt, DO (left) Neurosurgical Resident at University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY Gabrielle Santangelo (right) Medical Student at University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY Dr. Uzma Samadani’s initial reaction was not to operate. Lupe Galeno-Rodreguez was a 15-year-old girl who was already severely limited due to tumors growing on her spinal […]
DRG Stimulation: Evidence-based Strategy for the Treatment of Severe Chronic Neuropathic Pain
Christopher J. Winfree, MD, FAANS Department of Neurological Surgery, Columbia University New York, NY Neurosurgeons have played an important role in the management of neuropathic pain since the inception of the field of neurological surgery over a century ago. Most early neurosurgical pain therapies were ablative in nature. The non-ablative neuromodulation strategies were introduced in […]
Neurosurgeons and the Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia
Joshua M. Rosenow, MD, FAANS, FACS Director of Functional Neurosurgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago, IL Trigeminal neuralgia (TN), also known as tic douloureux, sometimes is described as the most excruciating pain known to humanity. The pain typically involves the lower face and jaw, although sometimes it affects the area around the nose […]
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 […]