To keep our membership informed of the activities and health of the association, we are posting our most recent collection of NERVES committee reports.
By Brent Patterson, CPA, Semmes Murphy, Survey Committee Chair
Dear NERVES Members,
As we move through the heart of 2025, I want to take a moment to reflect on the exciting momentum building within our organization and share a few key highlights.
Help us welcome our new members to NERVES! The Regional Directors representing the Southwest, Southeast, Northeast, and North/Midwest regions would like to personally welcome you to our great professional organization. We are excited you have decided to join us and look forward to getting to know you!
By Nicola Hawkinson, DNP, RN, RNFA, CPC,
CEO of SpineSearch
Introduction
Summer recruitment presents unique challenges—vacation schedules, slower response times, and increased competition for top talent. Despite the seasonal slowdown, it's crucial to stay proactive to maintain hiring momentum and prepare for the busy fall season.
Get to know Flora Gallegos of Sierra Neurosurgery Group. Flora joined NERVES in 2017 and is a member in Southwest region.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Including my time as the Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Neurosurgery Group, I've spent over 20 years in executive healthcare positions. My career has been dedicated to fostering patient focused operations, strategic growth, and operational excellence within the medical field, with a particular focus on neurosurgery, pain management, and sports medicine.
At RapidAI, we empower neurosurgery programs with AI-driven clinical decision support to enhance patient assessment, streamline workflows, and strengthen financial performance. Our real-time, actionable insights help teams make faster, more informed decisions, optimizing both care and operations.
Help us welcome our new members to NERVES! The Regional Directors representing the Southwest, Southeast, Northeast, and North/Midwest regions would like to personally welcome you to our great professional organization. We are excited you have decided to join us and look forward to getting to know you!
Dear NERVES Members,
Now that we are a few months into 2025, I am filled with enthusiasm for what lies ahead for our organization. This year promises to be full of initiatives and collaborations that will propel us forward and deepen our professional connections.
The NERVES Nominating Committee would like to submit the following ballot of nominees for your consideration and support. Final voting by the membership will take place during our Annual Business meeting set for Thursday, April 24, 2025, at the Seaport Hotel in Boston.
| President Jacob Rodman, CMPE, MBA Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic |
President Elect Antoine Curtis, MBA, MPA UChicago Medicine |
||
| Treasurer |
By Kristi Wright, MBA, CPCU, AIC—Senior Vice President, Claims, Curi Insurance
Recently, Dr. Gita Pensa, creator of the popular podcast, “Doctors and Litigation: The ‘L’ Word,” delivered an impactful keynote to our Curi Insurance team. This gathering was a key opportunity for our team to connect, learn, and reaffirm our commitment to supporting physicians and clinicians in medicine, business, and life. Dr. Pensa's talk at our event on the stress of litigation resonated deeply with us, highlighting a crucial point: a lack of understanding about the litigation process can intensify this stress for the impacted physician or clinician.
My name is Steve LeMoine, and I am the Vice President for Infirmary Health's Cardiovascular and Neuroscience service lines. I joined the health system in October 2020 and joined NERVES shortly after my arrival at Infirmary Health. I have the opportunity to partner with Dr. Ankit Gulati, my dyad physician leader, and an outstanding team among Infirmary for the growth, strategy and quality improvement of the service line. Our model focuses on neurovascular (stroke), neuro/ortho spine, neuro tumor and a variety of other patient care areas (today), with a vision of expanding our areas of focus every year!
Prior to joining Infirmary Health, I had the opportunity to work in many exciting roles that engaged the community, patients and hospital team members. These roles were both operational and strategic, at a local hospital level, physician practice and healthy system level.
Our Neuroscience Center of Excellence is comprised of many clinical teams from the hospital and private setting. We work in a collaborative manner to bring the highest quality of care to our region and support our Vision to be the FIRST CHOICE for healthcare in the Region. Our service line engages specialists from Neurology, Neurosurgery, Interventional Radiology, Critical Care, Physical Medicine and Rehab, Ortho/Spine and Neuro/Spine surgery, just to mention a few.
2024 Partner article courtesy of RosmanSearch
If you need to hire a new physician in 2025, consider this your friendly wake-up call: it’s crunch time. The physician hiring scene has never been more competitive, and physicians conduct job searches earlier than ever! Many top candidates are already deep into decision-making—and many have signed on the dotted line.
Physicians will make their decisions based on many factors. Competitive compensation and benefits matter, but many physicians seek a work environment that values balance and growth. They want to know about call schedules, dedicated time for administration or research tasks, and the possibility of flexible hours. They also want to see a clear path for professional development—CME opportunities, leadership training, and research support. And don’t overlook the growing appeal of student loan repayment assistance. Showing that you understand their financial reality can go a long way and make your offer stand out.
Help us welcome our new members to NERVES! The Regional Directors representing the Southwest, Southeast, Northeast, and North/Midwest regions would like to personally welcome you to our great professional organization. We are excited you have decided to join us and look forward to getting to know you!
Dear NERVES Friends,
I am thrilled to share an update on all the exciting developments at NERVES. First and foremost, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to John Moeller for his outstanding leadership as president. His dedication has profoundly impacted us all, both through his friendship and mentorship. As he steps down, he leaves a significant legacy that I, alongside our board, aspire to uphold. A personal thank you from me to you, John, for your friendship and guidance as I follow in your footsteps.
Help us welcome our new members to NERVES! The Regional Directors representing the Southwest, Southeast, Northeast, and North/Midwest regions would like to personally welcome you to our great professional organization. We are excited you have decided to join us and look forward to getting to know you!
The NERVES Annual Meeting continues to be one of our favorite conferences to attend as the leadership and membership have been welcoming and engaging. Unlike other conferences, as an industry partner, we are included in advancing NERVES and have an opportunity to meet with the membership. We appreciate NERVES including us in the main speaker’s area, which has allowed us to interact with each of you professionally and socially.
From this partnership, we have had the pleasure of meeting several members to discuss opportunities within their organizations. We have appreciated the opportunity to interact with the membership in this way and support your practices.
Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting is your partner in healthcare advisory, consulting, and focused operational support services to manage risk, improve performance, and create innovative solutions. Comprised of six divisions, Pinnacle provides superior services in the areas of compensation valuation & provider arrangements; transaction support services & valuation; strategy, value-based care & cost reduction; coding, compliance & revenue cycle services; enterprise risk & healthcare operations management support; and real estate consulting.
Get to know Anthony Conrad, MS, PA-C, MBA, of Northwell Health, Staten Island University Hospital. Anthony is one of our new NERVES members in the Northeast region.
A native of Staten Island, Anthony Conrad serves as the Clinical Director for the Department of Neurosurgery, Northwell Health, Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH). Anthony started his career as a Physician Assistant and has worked exclusively in neurosurgery in both private practice and employed groups throughout the NYC area. Ambitious to continue his impact in healthcare and grow, Anthony made the transition to leadership where he has been in his role for two and half years but is no stranger to SIUH, having started his career there as a PA student. In his role, Anthony is the administrative lead for the Department and partners with Ronit Gilad, MD, at SIUH, where his responsibilities include all strategic, operational and quality oversight of the clinical services at SIUH. One of Anthony’s favorite parts of his job is the versatility it allows. From being in the operating room, at the bedside, meeting with industry partners, or key stakeholders on a process improvement project or new program roll out, there is a constant challenge and opportunity to grow.
To keep our membership informed of the activities and health of the association, we are posting our most recent collection of NERVES committee reports. In this issue you will find the Communications Committee Report, the Education Committee Report, the Membership Committee Report, the Survey Committee Report, and the Washington Update.
By Jon Nguyen, Secretary, Communications Committee Chair
The Annual Meeting Committee has met three times since Chicago and is diligently working on our upcoming Annual Meeting. Based on feedback from the 2024 Annual Meeting, the Committee’s goal is to maintain a similar format, which includes excursions and practice tours to supplement our robust educational sessions. Fourteen keynote speakers have been reviewed and the Committee is close to making a final selection.
Thank you for joining us on March 27th for the NERVES 2024 Coding Updates webinar and many thanks to The Coding Network’s Jeremy Clark for his presentation. If you would like to rewatch this webinar, or if you weren’t able to join us, please see the link and passcode below with the presentation slides attached.
Webinar Recording |
Webinar Handouts |
