Acute Care Hospitals
CNS Consultants are the ideal partners for various health care entities that lack neurosurgical expertise at their facilities. Specifically, it has been shown that ~65% of all neurosurgical consultations do not lead to emergent/urgent surgery. Moreover, the rate of unnecessary transfers to higher level of care institutions only clogs those facilities when intervention is not required, not to mention causes a loss of revenue from the facility transferring the patient. From a hospital partner perspective, CNS serves small to medium sized hospitals with NO neurosurgeon on-site, but do have in-house facilities like an emergency room, med-surg wards, and standard intensive care units (ICU). In addition to hospitals without neurosurgeon “boots on the ground”, we also act as a backup to those facilities that have partial or incomplete neurosurgical coverage due to a simple lack of available neurosurgeons. In an attempt to balance out the call demand for their hospitals providers, we are able to cover portions of the ER call schedule to prevent surgeon fatigue (evenings, weekends, etc.). This will allow our CNS consultants to stabilize and consult on patients in preparation for the local neurosurgeon to assume care when needed, preventing the loss of patient volume from the respective acute care facility due to lack of available neurosurgeons.
Outpatient Clinics
In the setting of larger, multi-specialty clinics that may not have neurosurgical coverage, CNS consultants can be their “neurosurgeon on speed dial” to assist with care. Given the multi-disciplinary and inter-connected medical infrastructures of such clinics, obtaining a neurosurgical consultation can sometimes be arduous due to the paucity of available neurosurgeons. CNS Consultants simplify the process, allowing the non-neurosurgeon medical specialist to obtain an expert opinion effectively and accurately, allowing them to finalize the eventual plan of care for their patients. In the setting of a patient that may need actual neurosurgical intervention, our CNS consultants will co-manage in establishing surgical care with a local neurosurgeon vetted and trusted from our network partners.
Insurance Payors
Given the nuances of neurosurgery, and the lack of available neurosurgeons to serve numerous regions in the country, obtaining in-network or second opinion neurosurgical assessments can be very timely and critical for insurance payors. Established within our HIPAA compliant portal, referring payors or entities can upload clinical information prior to a scheduled TeleNeurosurgery appointment with their member. Our CNS consultant will then review the patient’s situation and provide an expert neurosurgical opinion that will be shared with the referring source and documented in a timely fashion. Our CNS Consultants follow all contemporary and data supported treatment protocols for brain and spine surgery, as can be found in publications by the AANS/CNS joint sections and NASS (North American Spine Society).