Prior Authorization: A State-Level Perspective
Grassroots advocacy has played a crucial role in addressing the burdensome and increasingly complex prior authorization processes that have frustrated neurosurgery patients, leading to unnecessary delays in care, worsening neurological deficits, and denial of essential services. Neurosurgeons have faced overwhelming administrative tasks that are both time-consuming and require additional staffing, significantly increasing overhead costs. State […]
Prior Authorization’s Hidden Toll: How Bureaucratic Barriers Exhaust Healthcare Teams and Delay Patient Care
The mechanism of prior authorization necessitates that an insurance company grants approval for specific treatments before assuming financial responsibility. This includes surgery but also clinical tools such as imaging and medication. This bureaucratic impediment functions mostly as a deterrent, a labyrinthine cacophony of obfuscation. In the words of Sir Topham Hatt, it causes confusion and delay. […]
Prior Authorization: Best of Intentions Turned Barrier to Care?
Prior authorization (noun): the process by which an insurance company evaluates a recommended health care service including a prescription, test, or treatment, is medically necessary and covered by the insurance plan. Initially prior authorization was valiantly born to try and reduce unnecessary testing and control health care spending. With concerns that physicians were ordering unnecessary […]
Cross-Post: ‘No other industry would tolerate this’: The problem with prior authorization in spine surgery
From time to time on Neurosurgery Blog, you will see us cross-posting to items from other places that we believe will interest our readers. Today’s post originally appeared in Becker’s Spine Review on Sept. 25. Neurosurgeons Anthony M. DiGiorgio, DO, MHA, FAANS; Praveen V. Mummaneni, MD, FAANS and Luis M. Tumialán, MD, FAANS discuss prior […]
Cross-Post: When Insurance Fails
From time to time on Neurosurgery Blog, you will see us cross-posting or linking to items from other places that may interest our readers. Today’s post originally appeared in The Lincoln Journal Star, titled “When Insurance Fails.” In the op-ed, neurosurgeon Jeremy Hosein, MD, discusses the misuse of prior authorization, which delays care, prolongs suffering […]
Cross-Post: Ending the Health Insurance Monopoly Will Make Life Healthier for Alabamians
From time to time on Neurosurgery Blog, you will see us cross-posting or linking to items from other places that may interest our readers. Today’s post originally appeared on 1819 News on April 21, titled “Ending the Health Insurance Monopoly Will Make Life Healthier for Alabamians.” In the op-ed, Richard P. Menger, MD, MPA, assistant […]
Cross-Post: Insurance Companies Use Stalling Tactics to Save Themselves Money
From time to time on Neurosurgery Blog, you will see us cross-posting or linking to items from other places that we believe will be of interest to our readers. Today’s post originally appeared in The American Spectator on Jan. 3. In the op-ed, neurosurgeon Richard Menger, MD, MPA, FAANS and nurses Jessica Murfee, RN, BSN […]
Cross-Post: Prior Authorization Is Hurting Our Patients
From time to time on Neurosurgery Blog, you will see us cross-posting or linking to items from other places that we believe will be of interest to our readers. Today’s post originally appeared in MedPage Today on June 25. In the op-ed, neurosurgeon and chair of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons […]
Our 500th Blog Post: Amplifying Neurosurgery’s Voice
For the past decade, Neurosurgery Blog: More Than Brain Surgery has investigated and reported on how health care policy affects patients, physicians and medical practices. Posts have discussed the state of neurosurgical sub-specialties and promoted key health care policy and advocacy initiatives to ensure patients’ timely access to care, improve neurosurgical practice and foster continued […]
Cross-Post: Bipartisan Bill Would Improve Medicare Patients’ Access to Care
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 American Spectator on July 21, 2021. In the op-ed, Richard Menger, MD, MPA, assistant professor of neurosurgery and political science at the […]