News

ISASS President Steven Garfin, MD, has written a response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Division of Outpatient care regarding agency considering the removal of cervical disc arthroplasty from the Medicare “Inpatient Only” list. The letter is copied below and is also available in PDF format. Download PDF Version April 20, 2012 John McInnes, MD, JD1 Director, Division of Outpatient Care – C4-01-15 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 7500 Security Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21244 Dear Dr. McInnes: I am writing to you and CMS on behalf of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS). ISASS is an international, scientific, and educational society organized to discuss and assess existing strategies and innovative ideas in the […]

Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ) Proposed Research Title for the Topic: Spinal Fusion for Painful Lumbar Degenerative Disc or Joint Disease Comments submitted on behalf of International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS) Jean Charles LeHuec, MD, PhD – President 2323 Cheshire Drive, Suite 101 Aurora, IL 60502 630-995-9994 www.isass.org Introductory Statement ISASS is an international, scientific and educational society organized to discuss and assess existing strategies and innovative ideas in the clinical and basic sciences related to spine surgery to enhance patient care. ISASS’ membership based is comprised of orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, and and researchers dedicated to improving patient care through medically appropriate spinal surgeries. We welcome the opportunity to comment on the key questions […]

The New Jersey State Spine Society (NJSSS) is composed of spine surgeons with the mission of protecting patient access to high quality spine care in New Jersey. Major issues have arisen from proposals by Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey and Cigna that will dramatically reduce reimbursement rates for spine procedures. Dr. Mitchell Reiter, President NJSSS, has called for an emergency meeting to be held on on February 15, 2012 at the Sheraton Tara Hotel, 199 Smith Road, in Parsippany, New Jersey (click here for map and directions) to collect input and activate spine surgeons in New Jersey to address this direct and specific attack on spine procedure reimbursement. Details for the meeting are provided in Dr. Reiter’s letter: Emergency Meeting […]