Menger wins Young Neurosurgeon Award from Congress of Neurological Surgeons

By Carol McPhail
cmcphail@health.southalabama.edu

USA Health neurosurgeon Richard P. Menger, M.D., M.P.A., has been awarded the Samuel Hassenbusch Young Neurosurgeon Award from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) for his research on how variations in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement among the states affect access to healthcare.

The award is given to the top socioeconomic abstract selected from among the thousands of abstracts submitted to the Congress of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting. This research is in collaboration with the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Menger, chief of complex spine surgery at USA Health, is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama and an assistant professor of political science at USA. The abstract will be presented on Oct. 10 at the 2022 CNS Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The abstract is titled: “State-to-State Variation in Medicaid and Medicare Reimbursement: Implications for Healthcare Access Among Vulnerable Populations.”

“We are fortunate to have a neurosurgeon like Dr. Menger at USA Health. This is a great accomplishment to be recognized nationally,” said Anthony Martino, M.D., professor and chair of neurosurgery. “His academic career is skyrocketing, and his future is bright!”

Menger focuses on complex spinal reconstructions for spinal deformity in children and adults. He performs minimally invasive spinal procedures and has a special expertise in the entire spectrum of state-of-the-art surgical and conservative management of complex spinal deformity and scoliosis. He is the lead editor of the textbook “The Business, Policy, and Economics of Neurosurgery.”

The Congress of Neurological Surgeons is the leading organization dedicated to advancing neurosurgery through education and innovation.