May/June 2007

Contents

 Commentary

n MESSAGE FROM THE MEDICAL EDITOR
The Era of Scientific Spine Care   
Eeric Truumees, MD

n FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
NASS Takes Leadership Role in Ethics 
Richard D. Guyer, MD

 Current Concepts

n INVITED REVIEW
Evidence-Based Medicine: Helping at an Individual and Organizational Level 
William C. Watters III, MD; Belinda Dusynski

n CURVE/COUNTERCURVE
Surgical Treatment of Tandem Stenosis: Which Level First? 
R. Shay Bess, MD; Thomas E. Mroz, MD; Jeffrey C. Wang, MD

n LITERATURE REVIEW
New from the Journals 
Paul M. Arnold, MD, FACS; Michael E. Frey, MD; Brandon Lawrence, MD; Jonathan N. Grauer, MD

 Socioeconomics &  Politics

n ETHICAL/LEGAL
Spine Care and the Purple Triangle 
Howard Morgan, MD, MA, FACS; Christopher Madden, MD

n REGULATORY POLICY
Spine Community Urges Changes to CMS Assessment of Lumbar Fusion 
Charles Branch, MD

n SPECIAL SOCIOECONOMCS UPDATE
Medicare Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) Begins July 1, 2007 
Charles Mick, MD; David Wong, MD; Pamela Hayden

n ADVOCACY/LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS/PAC
Spine Care Advocacy Digest 

n CODING Q & A
New CPT/Fluoroscopy Codes for Injection Procedures 
David O'Brien, Jr, MD

 NASS News