Neurosurgeon is one of three newly appointed to national neurological surgeons committee

Richard Menger, M.D., chief of complex spine surgery at USA Health and director of the USA Health Spine Institute, was one of three neurosurgeons in the U.S. recently appointed as a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons Joint Guidelines Review Committee for the spine section.

As a member of this committee, Menger will serve as a spine and methodology expert to help formulate the guidelines that dictate national standard of care or best practices for spinal surgeries in the U.S.

“This is just one small acknowledgement of the work being done by the USA Health physicians on faculty,” Menger said. “This is an example of the major difference of academic medicine. The physicians at USA Health are driving and creating the playing field.”

Menger was chosen for this committee for his work on spinal deformity surgery and his academic contributions with more than 70 publications in national journals and serving as an editor of the textbook “The Business Policy and Economics of Neurosurgery.”

The Joint Guidelines Review Committee (JGRC) is a standing committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). The JGRC’s primary charge is to evaluate clinical practice guidelines of potential relevance to neurosurgical practice. Membership consists of physicians and related personnel with an interest and/or expertise in evidence-based medicine and clinical practice guidelines.