NASS launches North American Spine Foundation

SAN FRANCISCO — The North American Spine Society introduced the North American Spine Foundation, a non-profit organization established to promote the benefits of an integrative and collaborative system of care through research, education and advocacy at its annual meeting, here.

“When you look at the rate of disability in this county and worldwide, it is now the number one cause of disease burden. Therefore, what a lot of people outside of our specialty area are saying is that we as specialists are not doing a good enough job of managing this big problem – this number one burden on society,” Michael L. Reed, DPT, OCS, executive director of the North American Spine Foundation, told Spine Surgery Today.

The Spine Foundation was developed to reduce and eliminate spine-related disability. Reaching out to public, policymakers, large employers and third-party payers can address this problem correctly, he said. The foundation will take the lead as the bridge-builder between all shareholder groups with a common goal of efficiently prevent disability and restore function, prevent individual financial loss, and the preserve of public resources and economic growth.

“We feel very strongly that spine disability is not just a medical issue. We know it relates to occupational factors, psychological issues, legal issues and social problems. In order to properly reduce the disability rates as they relate to spine problems, we need to have a multi-stakeholder coalition – an alliance of stakeholders – that can aggressively address that problem. If we can achieve that, we can be successful in reducing spine disability,” Reed said.

According to a North American Spine Society press release, the foundation plans to offer $90,000 in spine research grants and hosting a Spine Foundation Research Summit for researchers and other key stakeholders during its first year. In its second year, the foundation plans to offer $300,000 in research grants, including funding a pilot cohort treatment study with employer cooperation. It will expand to include 150 key international spine researchers and stakeholders. In subsequent years, the foundation will fund millions of dollars in spine research, offer educational programming and see the results of funded projects published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at major clinical meetings.

“Spine surgeons can become members of the foundation to strengthen our voice on Capitol Hill as we work to create this coalition. It is critical that every spine surgeon be a member of the foundation and support our efforts so we can reduce the rate of spine disability in this country and validate the care that these patients so desperately need,” Reed said. — by Kristine Houck, MA, ELS

Reference:

www.spine.foundation

Disclosure: Reed is the Executive Director of the North American Spine Foundation.