Mission and Philosophy
Mission
To assist physicians, nurses, and hospitals in caring for at-risk neurological patients by providing rapid and accurate interpretation of neurophysiologic testing, enabling accurate diagnosis and successful treatment.
Philosophy
We value the privilege of participating in patient care. Our goal is to provide the highest quality care, immediate availability, and fiscal flexibility that benefit the patient and the hospital.
Goals
Highest Quality Care
Dr. Spillers personally oversees every IONM case, reads every EEG, and reviews every LTME case. We do not use midlevel providers to increase volume or capacity.
Immediate Availability
The practice of medicine has always been relational. Personal interaction between the physician and the patient, nurses, and other physicians is an important part of the process. The remote nature of telemedicine can detract from the relational nature of traditional medicine. Although Dr. Spillers is not physically present, he is available to discuss monitoring strategy for IONM, and the results of all testing by phone with the physician. He can also give preliminary EEG reports by text, fax, or email as requested.
Fiscal Flexibility
Since remote IONM began, the typical model has been based on an IONM company contracting with a hospital to provide IONM services. The IONM company hires technologists, buys equipment, and either employs the neurologist directly or contracts with the neurologist for the professional services. The IONM company charges a fee to the hospital for each case. Downward pressure on IONM reimbursement and the instability of medical reimbursement in general makes this model less attractive.
In the current fiscal environment the best and most economical approach to remote clinical neurophysiology may be for the hospital to provide the equipment and employ the technologists who set up and run the tests we perform. The neurologist contracts directly with the hospital to provide the professional service, and bills the payers directly. The hospital does not pay a per-case fee to the IONM company. In this model the hospital retains the benefits of IONM without the additional cost of the IONM company acting as a broker.