BNA MRI Review Program

The BNA MRI Review program is FREE to individuals who reside significantly outside of Colorado and the communities in which our satellite offices are located, including Boulder, Brighton, Lafayette, Longmont and Louisville/Broomfield. Individuals who may not have local access to the highest level of personalized care have the ability to be treated by highly skilled and fellowship trained surgeons at Boulder Neurosurgical & Spine Associates in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. The reputable team of surgeons at BNA includes neurosurgeons dually trained in both orthopedic spine and neurological spine and brain surgery. Our experience and expertise includes, but is not limited to, the following: spinal reconstruction and scoliosis; neurosurgical oncology, including tumors of the pituitary gland; deep brain stimulation; vascular surgery and cerebrovascular disease, including aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations (AVM); and surgical epilepsy. Many procedures can be conducted via laser spine surgery or minimally invasive spine surgery. However, a formal diagnosis cannot be given until the patient has been seen in person.

More information about BNA is located throughout the Web site: www.bnasurg.com, as well as in our informative eBrochure.

At BNA we do not have a technician, assistant or other non-surgeon/non US-credentialed physician review patient films over the phone with the patient. Each patient’s films are reviewed by a practicing, board-certified or board-eligible neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon will then personally call the potential patient, answer questions, and discuss possible treatment options - including non-surgical options – based upon a preliminary interpretation of the MRI. BNA surgeons strive to provide the most personalized, least invasive and highest-quality care to all patients whether through operative or non-operative treatment modalities. While this personalized care may include a minimally invasive procedure allowing for a 5-day treatment process, the best suited care for a particular individual may take more or less time. Over a 5-day period, some patients suffering from spine-related conditions and injuries such as arthritis, failed back surgery and spinal stenosis can be relieved from pain using state-of-the-art, technologically advanced, minimally invasive, endoscopic procedures performed by a BNA surgeon.

Procedures potentially available for a 5-day treatment include:

• Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF)
• Artificial disc replacement
• Brain tumor removal
• Cerebrovascular surgery
• CyberKnife Radiosurgery
• Dynamic motion stabilization
• Endoscopic brain surgery
• Kyphoplasty
• Laser spine surgery
• Microvascular nerve compression syndromes
• Minimally invasive spine surgery
• Revision spine surgery
• Spinal cord stimulation
• Spinal deformity correction surgery
• Spinal fusion (occipital-cervical-thoracic-lumbosacral)

Getting Started

1. Please Fed-Ex/UPS a CD with your Dicom MRI images (and X-rays if you have them) to the attention of Frances, along with your phone number, a brief one paragraph description of your symptoms and any questions you would like the surgeon to address during your MRI review. Please track the films, and request a signature to ensure they arrive as scheduled. Once tracking has stated the package has arrived in our office, please call Frances at 303.938.5700, or email info@bnasurg.com and state your films have arrived for MRI review. Your films must be sent to the attention of Frances in order to be processed correctly and expediently.
2. Our mailing address is:
   1155 Alpine Ave., Ste. 320
   Boulder, CO 80304
3. Once we have your films, description of symptoms and phone number you are likely to answer at all times, a surgeon will strive to call you within 24 hours to discuss your concerns, needs and options. Please provide a phone number you are likely to answer at all times, as it is not possible to pre-determine when a surgeon will call you due to clinics and emergency cases. You will be called a maximum of three times before your request is disqualified.
4. Should you choose not to schedule an office visit to begin surgery proceedings, if that is your recommended treatment, your films will be returned to an address specified by you via Fed-Ex, COD, upon your request.
5. If you decide to schedule an in-office appointment for a formal diagnosis you will be directed to or contacted by a surgery scheduler who may also be reached at 303.938.5700 to assist you in scheduling.
6. An estimate of the cost of surgery is available but usually only after an in-person office evaluation with a BNA physician. A significant savings may be available for surgical payment in advance.
7. A new patient packet will be mailed/emailed to you after you have scheduled an appointment. Please complete the documents and bring the packet with you to your appointment.
8. Because BNA treats many out-of-area patients, we have this MRI Review program in place so that we can schedule an in-person evaluation one day and tentatively schedule you for surgery, if indicated, the day after you have been seen in person. This process is meant to minimize your time away from home. Although uncommon, there is a possibility that your diagnosis may change after your in-office consult; all recommendations made prior to the in-person visit are preliminary only, subject to confirmation or change based upon in-person evaluation. BNA is not responsible for any costs incurred by a potential patient who, after in-person consultation, is determined for any reason not to be a candidate for further treatment from BNA, or who declines such treatment for any reason.
9. You may call Boulder Travel Agency at 303.443.0380 to arrange your flight and transportation. You may also visit www.BoulderLodging.com for a complete lodging guide.

• The main office of BNA is located in the Medical Pavilion of Boulder Community Hospital at 1155 Alpine Ave., Ste. 320, Boulder, CO 80304 - with satellite offices nearby in Brighton, Lafayette, Longmont and Louisville, Colorado. We have secured special rates with Boulder Residence Inn, which is 2 miles and an 8 minute drive from our Boulder location.

Please see below for BNA special Boulder Residence Inn rates.

 *Residence Inn provides HOT breakfast everyday and FREE internet

• For shuttle service to and/or from the airport call SuperShuttle at 800.BlueVan or save $6 by booking online at www.supershuttle.com.

The BNA MRI Review Potential 5-Day Treatment Process:

* All patients are evaluated in-person before treatment is provided and medical conditions are unique to each individual. While the goal of BNA is to minimize out-of-area time for patients to as little as 5 days, there are certain circumstances that may arise which necessitate a prolonged or extensive preoperative work-up, such as for potential cardiac clearance. Preoperative work-up, patient informed consent and release, and patient follow-up will vary for each patient and each surgery and prospective patients should be prepared for the possibility that they may not be able to return home within 5 days. Some surgeries require follow-up serial X-rays and in-person evaluations for up to two years or more, such as for tumor removal. In addition, the patient may require much more than outpatient surgical intervention. These potential issues are beyond our control and may not be evident from the preliminary MRI review. BNA reserves the right to decline to provide treatment based on the telephone consultation or the in-person evaluation, and cannot guaranty that a patient’s treatment will be completed within a 5-day period, regardless of the surgeon’s preliminary interpretation of the MRI. BNA is not responsible for any additional costs incurred due to a stay that exceeds 5 days. BNA surgeons are specifically reviewing your case with regards to brain and spinal issues and NOT other organs, tissues or potentially related or unrelated problems. They are NOT radiologists and you are strongly advised to have your films formally read by a radiologist and for you to review that information and act on it accordingly. We may not have the radiology report available to us and even if we do, we do not always review that information; and we are not responsible for issues that were or were not picked identified by a radiologist.