The prestigious National Spine Network (NSN) is a nonprofit organization that has recognized 20 "Centers of Excellence" in spine care throughout the U.S. Each of these centers are dedicated to the multidisciplinary management of spine and neck problems. The member centers are all recognized medical leaders in high-quality spine care. Among the centers are:
Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago (Gunnar B. Andersson,MD) Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Hanover (James N. Weinstein,DO,MS)
Vanderbilt University Spine Center
Tulane University Medical Center
SUNY Health Science Center
Georgetown University Medical Center
The highest-priority project for NSN is developing standards of care to "ensure high-quality, consistent and cost-effective care for their patients." The NSN outcomes program provides "one of the largest sources of longitudinal patient outcomes data for spine problems." The collection of clinical and patient follow-up data from all members is mandatory.
Membership in the NSN is by invitation only. Those invited to join have "comprehensive, multidisciplinary spine care programs that are professionally recognized for their high-quality patient care and their commitment to conservative treatment." Indicative of those standards is the Texas Back Institute (TBI), which has been invited to join NSN. Three well-known doctors of chiropractic were among the TBI specialists that were accept as individual members:
Daniel Hansen,DC,DABCO,FICC Dennis Skogsbergh,DC
John Triano,DC,PhD
This is an important breakthrough for chiropractic, which has until now been absent from the NSN outcomes database. TBI Chiropractic Department Chair John Triano,DC,PhD explains further:
"There are two reasons why this is important. The NSN is comprised of the most prestigious academic and nonacademic spine care centers in the United States. It is important that chiropractic be recognized for its contributions in spine care parallel with these leaders. With its interest in outcomes and an existing broad computerized database, we hope to engage in comparative studies in the near future."
