Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Winter CSNS EC Meeting in Washington, DC due to a prior commitment, but was able to attend the CSNS Meeting in Philadelphia during both the NERVES Annual Educational Meeting and the AANS Annual Meeting. This was the first in-person plenary meeting since the onset of COVID. There were many topics discussed as resolutions and I will highlight some of the ones that should be of interest to our group.

• Cost Awareness Amongst Neurosurgeon Faculty and Residents: A Need for Health Care Sustainability Education
• Case Minimum and Credentialing Requirements
• Creating Sustainable Reimbursement for the Physician Workforce of the Future (Medicare)
• Evaluating Medical Error Reporting Practices in Neurological Intensive Care Units (Emergency Resolution pertaining to the criminal conviction of a neurosurgical ICU nurse)

I was also asked to sit on a lunch panel at the CSNS luncheon that was focused on philanthropy, how to pursue it and what areas within a practice that it can help, like bridge research funding, helping backstop certain clinical programs that lack reimbursement but are critical to high functioning centers and teams.

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HUB was proud to be a platinum level sponsor of the 2022 NERVES Conference in Philadelphia. It was a great opportunity to meet with NERVES members from throughout the country and to update attendees on the many resources offered by HUB.

The conference was well supported with excellent networking events. NERVES volunteer leadership along with Melissa Klingberg went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of.

Committee Members: Carrie Bennett, Antoine Curtis, Galyn Damiani, Kelly Hornbacher, M.J. Orellano (chair), Alex Palleschi, Jim Shea, Stacey Snodgrass, Kathy Tobin (past chair), Mark Vorherr, Melissa Klingberg (NERVES). 

The Education Committee is responsible for creating educational opportunities for NERVES members throughout the year. We are pleased to welcome two new committee members this quarter: Carrie Bennett from the Neurological and Spine Institute of Savannah and Mark Vorherr from Mayfield Clinic.  We have a great balance of private practice, hospital-based practice and academic practice to represent our membership on our committee.

Hello NERVES Members,

Dear NERVES Members:

I’m sending greetings from Birmingham, Alabama to all of you across the U.S.  I hope you are enjoying the summer and getting outdoors, but I also know that many of you are facing scorching deep-south temperatures -- no matter where you live!  The heat this summer is in stark contrast to the cold temps and wind we experienced at our April Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on the rooftop bar that night, right?  The heat from the fire pits and the great personal and professional connections we made that night kept the networking and fun going all the way past closing. I met so many of you at the April meeting, and I’m extraordinarily thankful for that opportunity!

Rosa Schiro, CFO IGEA Brain, Spine, & Orthopedics 

How long you've been in the role and what past jobs/experiences led up to this role:
I accidentally ended up in medical. I had been a SAHM running my husband’s business and raising my children for the last 20 years when I decided to dip my toe back into the career pool.  I was working part time at an accounting firm across the street from my sons’ school and wanted to start looking for a full-time position because my boys would be starting high school soon and I wanted to stay busy.  When I was initially offered the position of accounting manager at IGEA I was reluctant because I knew nothing about medical but as I someone close to me said “1+1 will always equal 2” so I took the plunge.  Within a year I was promoted to Controller and last year I was also put in charge of overseeing our billing and promoted to CFO.

Please join NERVES in congratulating our member, Diana M. Hansen for 50 years with her practice! 

From Diana: On March 6, 1972 (when I was 5 years old!  Not really, of course, but it is usually good for a laugh!) I started working with two neurosurgeons: Dr. David Hubbell and Dr. Harley Deere. They had just left another neurosurgery group to go out on their own. They needed someone to file charts, copy charts (copy machines needed liquid toner at that time), and other general clean up office duties so that is how it all began. I was in high school at the time and the office manager worked around my school schedule allowing me full time work during school holidays, Saturdays, and summertime. That arrangement continued through college. I got my teaching credential which remains current to this day, but there were no teaching jobs in California, so they offered me a fulltime position with benefits as secretary to Dr. Harley Deere. That was in 1977. In 1981 I was offered the office management position and have been working in that capacity since. Several doctors have come and gone, but I am still here!

Spring has arrived and along with it brings the excitement of our first in-person NERVES Annual Meeting since 2019!  Our organization’s Annual Meeting is the springboard (no pun intended) to all things NERVES and is the conduit to and for the society’s mission – to connect neurosurgery executives to resources, education, and data to enhance value for the business of neurosurgery.  The connectedness that NERVES provides to its members brings a resourcefulness that neurosurgical practice managers simply cannot get elsewhere. 

Our society always has been and continues to be high-value, and I encourage our members to in-turn invest in and commit to NERVES by attending our first in-person meeting in three years!  NERVES is super excited about our upcoming meeting in Philadelphia as we have a fantastic program scheduled.  If you have not registered yet, please consider joining your fellow members at the 2022 annual meeting to not only support our mission but to also help deliver on our NERVES vision and values.

Fact and Fiction:

How Doctors Can Re-Establish Trust in an Era of Misinformation

By: Curi

It’s no secret that trust in authority has been collapsing for years—and in the wake of a global pandemic, physicians, both generalists and specialists, now sit in the crosshairs of mistrust among many patients. When science and fact are often dismissed as biased and misinformation spreads rapidly, re-establishing trust with patients is a difficult, but essential, task. By understanding the origins of this mistrust and how it presents itself within the medical community, doctors can rebuild patient confidence in their expertise and help provide quality care to the broadest possible swath of patients.

Amanda Snyder, RN, COO, Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates

How long have you been a member of NERVES?

Annual Meeting Committee Report

Co-chairs:  John Moeller & Donna Bailer.  Members: Mary Amann, Beth Baucom, Galyn Damiani, Jacob Rodman, Jim Shea, Kevin Hockenson, John Lewis, Steve Napolitan, Thomas Cairo.

Since the last report, the Annual Meeting Committee has been hard at work planning all the details of the upcoming Annual NERVES Member meeting in Philadelphia, PA occurring April 27-29, 2022.  With the help of our platinum sponsors Curi and Hub, we secured some really amazing featured speakers this year, along with our incredible group of regular presenters. 

March 2022 Education Committee Report

Committee Members: Antoine Curtis, Galyn Damiani, Kelly Hornbacher, Erika Martin, M.J. Orellano (chair), Alex Palleschi, Tariq Qureshi, Jim Shea, Stacey Snodgrass, Kathy Tobin (past chair), Melissa Klingberg (NERVES) 

The Education Committee is responsible for creating educational opportunities for NERVES members throughout the year. The NERVES Education Committee continues to work hard as we respond to meet the educational needs of our members in this rapidly changing environment, where meeting face to face has been problematic.  The Education Committee chooses monthly webinars based on surveys sent to the membership as well as “hot topics” discussed on the NERVES listserv.  

Survey Committee will meet in Philadelphia to begin planning for the 2022 survey.  We will also review feedback received during/after Mike Heaton’s presentation at the annual meeting.   We are also always looking for new committee membership.  Please email me ([email protected]) or the NERVES office ([email protected]) if you have interest. 

Derek Cantrell
NERVES Survey Chair

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Completing the NERVES Socio-Economic Survey

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I hope that everyone is doing well and can relax, refresh, and enjoy time with family and friends.  Given that many of us are busier than ever before – between staffing and COVID-related challenges – it has never been more important than now to take full advantage of the countless resources this organization offers to support one another through these difficult times. These resources and connections are what make NERVES such an exceptional society; we can all be thankful for the connectedness that NERVES has provided us.

It is a true privilege to be the President of NERVES.  The past 20 years of NERVES leadership deserves many thanks for the organization’s continued success.  I plan to maintain this momentum with a strong commitment to our mission – to connect neurosurgery executives to resources, education, and data to enhance value for the business of neurosurgery.  The focus of our mission is on “connection.”  Even though the pandemic has kept us from meeting in person, NERVES has adapted and stayed committed to maintaining connections amongst its membership.  Notably, our Education Committee has continued to provide valuable and informative monthly webinars.  On behalf of the Society, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Education Committee for their engagement, and former Committee Chair, Kathy Tobin, for her exceptional leadership in making a variety of resources and learning opportunities available to members.

Salutations! My name is Carlos Abeyta, MBA. I am currently the Department Administrator for the Department of Neurosurgery, at the University of New Mexico (UNM), School of Medicine (SOM) under the leadership of Meic H. Schmidt, MD, MBA. I am proud to be one of the youngest Administrators across the School of Medicine which is why I joined NERVES to ensure that our unique department is aligned with all industry benchmarks trends and to ensure we remain market competitive for our faculty. Previous positions that enhanced my knowledge and prepared me for this role included being an Operations Manager in Neurology and Neurosurgery, being 1 of only 2 Compensations Specialists for UNM, and working for the Los Alamos National Laboratory as an Administrator for X-Computational Physics.

Currently, our Department has nine Neurosurgeons, two Critical Care Faculty, one Pain Provider, twenty-six Advanced Practice Providers (APP), and seventeen staff members. We are the first Comprehensive Stroke Center and Certified Pediatric Neurosurgery program in New Mexico. Furthermore, our department boasts The North American Skull Base Society (NASBS) distinction. While we do not yet have residents, we are anticipating a successful site review with hopes of obtaining our first resident in the Summer of 2022. During the pandemic, I was the point person on recruiting APPs to our program, filling 19 of 20 positions within eleven months! New Mexico is not the state that everyone wants to be, however when they arrive here it is truly a treasure!