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Spine Care

Cross-Post: ‘No other industry would tolerate this’: The problem with prior authorization in spine surgery

By Cross Post, Prior Authorization, Spine CareNo Comments

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 authorization and the significant problems physicians face when it comes to receiving fair payments for services offered.

Denial of payment after prior authorization has become a grim reality in American health care. Insurance companies authorize procedures, and surgeons perform them as approved. Then, the insurance company denies payment. The authors state, “No other industry would tolerate this system. Yet, in healthcare, physicians, bound by their oaths to care for patients, endure a system that withholds payment.”

Ultimately, patients bear the brunt of this charade. The authors conclude the article by stating that patients deserve insurance companies that fulfill their contractual obligations.

Click here to read the full article.

We hope you will share what you learn from our posts. We invite you to join the conversation on Twitter by following @Neurosurgery and using the hashtag #FixPriorAuth.

October 6, 2023
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Cross-Post: A new crisis at the border: Traumatic injuries caused by falls from Trump’s 30-foot wall

By Cross Post, Spine Care, TraumaNo Comments

From time to time on Neurosurgery Blog, you will see us cross-posting or linking to items from other publications that may interest our readers. Today’s post was first published in The Hill on July 6, titled “A new crisis at the border: Traumatic injuries caused by falls from Trump’s 30-foot wall.” In the op-ed, Alexander Tenorio, MD, a neurological surgery resident at the University of California San Diego, discusses the injuries and economic burden of height extensions of U.S.-Mexico border wall barriers.

“As a physician, it is my duty to reveal this unnecessary harm and strain on hospital resources. As the son of Mexican immigrants, it is my duty to continue to fight for this vulnerable population,” states Dr. Tenorio.

Dr. Tenorio recently joined human rights leaders as the physician representative to brief members of Congress and President Biden’s domestic policy advisors on the public health crisis occurring at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Click here to read the op-ed.

Editor’s Note: We hope you will share what you learn from our posts. We invite you to join the conversation on Twitter by following @Neurosurgery and using the hashtag #neurosurgery.

July 7, 2023
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Cross-post: As a Neurosurgeon, I See the Devastating Toll of the Raised Border Wall

By Cross Post, Spine Care, TraumaNo Comments

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 Los Angeles Times on April 13, titled “Opinion: As a San Diego neurosurgeon, I see the devastating toll of the raised border wall.” In the op-ed, Alexander Tenorio, MD, a neurological surgery resident at the University of California San Diego, poignantly discusses the horrific spinal cord and brain injuries caused by falls from the border wall.

Dr. Tenorio relays stories of patients coming to the emergency department with serious injuries, such as a 30-year-old male with an unstable spinal fracture after falling off the border wall. The patient had a severe spinal cord injury. Dr. Tenorio “walked over to the trauma unit and saw the terrified young man, lying immobile with a collar supporting his neck. Instead of concerned family, he was surrounded by Border Patrol officers.”

Since the height of the border wall in San Diego was raised in 2019, there have been a record number of traumatic spinal injuries sustained in border falls. Dr. Tenorio can attest to the unnecessary human suffering the higher wall imposes on people. As the son of Mexican immigrants who crossed the same border in the 1980s when fleeing violent threats in their hometown, Dr. Tenorio understands that his patient’s life story could easily have been his or his parents’.

Dr. Tenorio concludes the op-ed urging political leaders to halt the planned border wall extensions and provide greater resources for hospitals serving border regions.

Click here to read the op-ed.

Editor’s Note: We hope you will share what you learn from our posts. We invite you to join the conversation on Twitter by following @Neurosurgery and using the hashtag #neurosurgery.

April 14, 2023
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Cross-Post: ‘I’m a Neurosurgeon Who Can’t Move. Now What?’

By Cross Post, Spine CareNo Comments

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 15. In the op-ed, David J. Langer, MD, FAANS, recounts a life-changing accident during a ski trip that resulted in a spinal cord injury and a feeling of powerlessness for the practicing neurosurgeon and star on the Netflix series Lenox Hill.

Moments after Dr. Langer fell while skiing in Colorado, he realized he couldn’t move his legs, “I’m a neurosurgeon who can’t move, I thought. Now what?” After being airlifted to a Denver hospital, he was diagnosed with central cord syndrome ⁠— his spinal cord was injured, but only temporarily. “Feeling valued and humbled, I returned home to my own team to repair my spine,” according to Dr. Langer. The excellent care he received in Colorado and at home in New York now reminds him to keep patients’ humanity front and center.

Click here to read the full article.

Editor’s Note: We hope you will share what you learn from our posts. We invite you to join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #Neurosurgery and following @Neurosurgery and @DrDavidLanger.

June 30, 2022
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Cross-Post: Perverse Health-Care Incentives Endanger Spine Patients

By Access to Care, Cross Post, Spine CareNo Comments

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 May 21. In the op-ed, neurosurgeons Richard Menger, MD, MPA and Anthony M. DiGiorgio, DO, MHA voice their support of Louisiana HB 941, a bill in the Louisiana State Legislature that would allow only spine surgeons to perform spine surgery.

Non-surgeons have begun performing spine surgery at such a rate that it became necessary for the leading spine organizations — including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) and AANS/CNS Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves — to adopt a position statement on the issue. As pointed out by Drs. Menger and DiGiorgio, it is a fairly straightforward premise that a physician should be a spine surgeon to perform and bill for spine surgery.

Click here to read the full article.

Editor’s Note: We hope that you will share what you learn from our posts. We invite you to join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #SpineSurgery and following @Neurosurgery and @SpineSection.

June 2, 2022
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Cross-Post — Neurosurgery Publishes Updated Return-to-Play Recommendations for Collision Athletes After Cervical Spine Injury: A Modified Delphi Consensus Study With the Cervical Spine Research Society

By CNS Spotlight, Spine Care, TraumaNo Comments

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. We wanted to bring attention to these recommendations compiled by Alexander R. Vaccaro MD, PhD and Gregory D. Schroeder, MD and others at the Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS) meeting in New York City. This article recently appeared in Neurosurgery, the official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, which publishes research on clinical and experimental neurosurgery covering the very latest developments in science, technology and medicine.

In October of 2020, Neurosurgery published “Updated Return-to-Play Recommendations for Collision Athletes After Cervical Spine Injury: A Modified Delphi Consensus Study With the Cervical Spine Research Society,” which provides consensus statements reached through formal survey methodology on managing football athletes with traumatic neck injuries.

According to a recent Rothman Orthopaedic Institute press release, author Dr. Vaccaro stated, “our study provides the consensus expert opinion of spine surgeons with experience treating neck injuries in collision athletes, especially American football. The topic is controversial, and randomized trials are impractical. Our results deliver updated recommendations from over 100 surgeons, and also highlights persistent areas of controversy.”

To read the full Neurosurgery article, click here.

Editor’s Note: We encourage everyone to join the conversation online by using the hashtag #Spine.

October 12, 2020
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