LaGrange, IL – August 2004 - The North American Spine Society was founded twenty years ago by a group of 100 physicians from several disciplines. This group understood that treatment of spine and back injuries was, at its heart, an interdisciplinary undertaking between surgeons and nonsurgeons across several specialty areas. Since our founding, we have only grown in the number of different disciplines represented among our members. As a result of the unique composition of our membership, we continue to believe strongly in a multidisciplinary approach to spine care and to encourage interaction between specialists of all kinds. Our educational sessions and meetings represent unique opportunities for health practitioners to come together, learn cutting edge surgical and nonoperative spine care techniques and develop the best overall approach to spine care for our patients.

We strongly believe it is through the interaction among different specialists that we will continue to provide the best possible spine care to patients everywhere. If we were to ignore the interests, experiences and skills of any group of specialist providers, we would be doing ourselves and our patients a tremendous disservice. It is because of this fundamental concern with patient care that we wish to state our continued commitment to offering choice and cooperation to the millions of men and women who require specialized spine care.

We recently learned of a California hospital proposal to restrict the privileges of orthopedic spine surgeons to those spine injuries in which no neurologic symptoms were present. We oppose all efforts to designate one set of surgical procedures to the exclusive domain of a group of specialists. These efforts are often primarily motivated by self serving economic issues and not the best interests of the patient. We, of course, recognize the unique contribution and expertise of each specialty to contribute to the overall treatment of the patient and encourage interaction among physicians, not division and rancor.


Both orthopedic and neurosurgical residency and fellowship programs train spine surgeons to perform the most complicated procedures in medicine. These surgical skills are not the exclusive domain of any one set of surgeons, but are developed through a rigorous educational process and surgical experience. Given appropriate training and credentialing, orthopedic and neurological surgeons are both qualified to perform spinal procedures, regardless of the presence or absence of neurological deficits.


NASS is committed to providing the best possible care to patients by bringing together physicians and health care providers from many parts of the world and from different specialties. We are extremely proud of our diverse membership and, because of the unique composition of our group, we stand as proof that diverse members and interests can come together for the overall good of patients everywhere. Our society will continue to offer our members and physicians everywhere the opportunity to work together, not separately, toward the one goal we can all agree on: the optimum care for patients in pain and suffering.

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NASS is a multidisciplinary medical organization dedicated to fostering the highest quality, evidence-based, and ethical spine care by promoting education, research, and advocacy. Since its start in 1985, NASS has grown to nearly 4,000 members in 22 spine-related specialties. NASS members are MDs, DOs, and PhDs, including orthopedics, neurosurgery, physiatry, pain management, and other disciplines. Nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, chiropractors, physical therapists, practice administrators, and other allied health care professionals involved in spine care are also represented as affiliate members.

For further information, contact:
North American Spine Society
Toll-free: (866) 960-6277   Direct: (630) 230-3600