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!

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.

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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

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.  

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. 

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

How long have you been a member of NERVES?

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.

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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!

Thank you to those who registered and joined us for our October virtual Mini-Conference held on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. The presentations from both Dr. Hickson and Dr. Gordon were fantastic and informative. In case you missed this great event, please click the links below to find the recordings and presentations. .

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• Thank you to those who registered and joined us for our October virtual Mini-Conference held on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. The presentations from both Dr. Hickson and Dr. Gordon were fantastic and informative. In case you missed this great event, please click the links below to find the recordings and presentations.

Thank you for your support of our society. NERVES provides many resources to our members, from the E-list, our new monthly educational webinars, the Socio-Economic Survey to participating at the Annual Meeting. Your continued support of NERVES is what makes our organization strong and vibrant.

The 2021 renewal period is open and we are asking that you take a little bit more time this year to fully update your member profile. Once logged in, find "My Profile" to update yours.

Hello NERVES membership.  This is my first update as the new chair of the education committee.  Melissa Klinberg and Kathy Tobin have done such a great job the transition to my new role has been easy as I follow the format Kathy and Melissa created. Why mess with success?

Our editorial committee has been actively working, discussing content to include in this issue of the Transmitter e-newsletter, then drafting, editing and finalizing. The e-newsletter for NERVES is produced 3 times per year. The committee had also continued to encourage our members to publish in industry journals. We routinely ask members to report on their publications so that we can keep a historical record for NERVES.

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The NERVES Nominating Committee would like to submit the following slate of nominees for your consideration and support*.

We will call for a final vote for these open officer positions on Thursday, August 19th at noon.

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Virtual Mini Conference Recap

Thank you to the NERVES member who attended our recent Virtual Mini-Conference on April 22!  We received great feedback from our members about the presenters and their topics. If you missed it, we are offering the recordings from our two presenters Dr. David DeLong and Mike Heaton. We didn’t record the Breakout Roundtable Hot Topic Discussions – you had to virtually “be there” to participate in this amazing session of networking with your colleagues. NERVES Roundtable discussions are a true gem, so we hope everyone will participate in them at the upcoming Orlando Annual Meeting.