• Richard Menger, Brett Youngerman, Rimal Hanif Dossani, Jakub Godzik, Steven Tenny, Jeffrey Cozzens, Nitin Agarwal, Bharat Guthikonda, Kristopher T Kimmell, Clemens Schirmer, Joshua M Rosenow, Luis M Tumialán, and Council of State Neurological Societies.
• Department of Neurosurgery, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA; Department of Political Science, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA. Electronic address: Richard.menger@gmail.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2021 Jul 1; 151: 348-352.

AbstractPracticing neurosurgery in 2021 requires a detailed knowledge of the vocabulary and mechanisms for coding and reimbursement, which should include general knowledge at the global level and fluency at the provider level. It is specifically of interest for the neurosurgeon to understand conceptually the nuances of hospital reimbursement. That knowledge is especially germane as more neurosurgeons become hospital employees. Here we provide an overview of the mechanics of coding. We illustrate the formula to generate physician reimbursement through the current relative value unit structure. We also seek to explain hospital-level reimbursement through the diagnosis-related group structure. Finally, we expand about different and ancillary income streams available to neurosurgeons and provide a realistic assessment including the opportunities and challenges of those entities.Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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