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.
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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