POSITION STATEMENT on EMERGENCY SERVICES AND THE ACUTE CARE SURGEON Ensuring Patient Safety
Background
The number of emergency department (ED) visits in the United States continues to increase annually. At the same time, in some parts of the country, there is a growing shortage of specialists — including neurosurgeons — available to treat patients with emergency medical conditions. Addressing this serious and complex problem defies a simple resolution and will require a multi-faceted approach that includes the regionalization of certain emergency neurosurgical services, improved reimbursement and medical liability reform.
In order to expand the number of surgeons available to treat emergency and trauma patients and to encourage young surgeons to pursue careers in trauma surgery, an additional solution has been proposed – the creation of a new subspecialty of medicine called acute care surgery. These surgeons would perform a wider array of emergency surgeries, not just those related to general trauma. Part of this expanded scope of practice would include neurosurgical procedures, despite the fact that the proposed curriculum for these new practitioners only includes one or two months of neurosurgical training
Click here to view the full AANS/CNS Position Statement on Emergency Services and the Acute Care Surgeon.
