Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1293265
37 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Top 20 hospitals for neurology & neurosurgery, by US News & World Report By Alan Condon B est Hospitals for Neurology & Neurosur- gery 2020-21 was published by U.S. News & World Report on July 28, with Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore ranking No. 1 for the second year running. U.S. News analyzed data from 1,241 hospitals, which had to treat at least 275 Medicare inpatients in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Here are the top 20 hospitals for neu- rology and neurosurgery: 1. Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore) 2. UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco) 3. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell (New York City) 4. Rush University Medical Center (Chicago) 5. Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago) 6. NYU Langone Hospitals (New York City) 7. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.) 8. UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles) 9. Cleveland Clinic 10. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles) 11. Stanford (Calif.) Health Care-Stanford Hospital 12. Mount Sinai Hospital (New York City) 13. Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston) 14. Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston) 15. University of Michigan Hospitals-Michigan Med- icine (Ann Arbor) 16. Barnes-Jewish Hospital (St. Louis) 17. UT Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas) 18. Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian (Philadelphia) 19. Keck Medical Center of USC (Los Angeles) 20. Emory University Hospital (Atlanta) n Neurosurgeons ask Congress to intervene in CMS' 'ill-informed and dangerous' Medicare payment cuts By Alan Condon T he American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons announced their opposition to CMS' Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule for 2021, which would reduce neurosurgeon reimbursement rates by at least 7 percent. "Now is not the time to reduce payments for surgical care," Ann Stroink, MD, neurosurgeon and chair of the AANS/CNS Washington Commit- tee, said in an Aug. 4 statement. "The Medicare payment rule will chal- lenge an already fragile healthcare system." AANS and CNS have asked Congress to waive Medicare's budget neu- trality requirements to prevent the cuts and require CMS to apply the increased evaluation and management payment adjustments to all 10- and 90-day global surgery codes. The proposal is an "ill-informed and dangerous policy," according to Dr. Stroink, which could lead to neurosurgeons taking fewer Medicare patients, resulting in longer wait times and reduced access to care for older Americans. Neurosurgical practices are already struggling with the financial chal- lenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed cuts would heap even more stress on a healthcare system that is in severe financial stress, Dr. Stroink said. The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons has also urged CMS to reconsider the rule. n Globus Medical spine robot breaks into Middle East market By Alan Condon The first ExcelsiusGPS robotic spine surgery system in the Middle East was launched Aug. 17 at Burjeel Medical Hospital in Abu Dhabi. The robot, approved for use in Europe and the U.S., is awaiting licens- ing from local health authorities. Dr. Amr El Shawarbi, the hospital's neurosciences medical director, has scheduled more than 40 patients for spinal fusions with the robot. Developed by Globus Medical, ExcelsiusGPS combines a robotic arm with navigation to improve accuracy in the placement of screws and reduce radiation exposure for the surgical team. More than 20,000 patients have been treated with the robot worldwide. n