The Strength of ASPN: A Community of Diverse Expertise
The formal launch of ASPN’s Neurology Section, the ACCESS AI Initiative kicks off its webinar series, an Armed Forces Division update, and the growing Young Innovators track.
The ASPN
Newsletter
Society news, member briefings, committee updates, and perspectives from ASPN leadership. Every issue is readable here and preserved as its original PDF.
Current Issue · June 2026 · Issue 18
Where Intelligence Meets Human Insight
A new member briefing on the mandatory CMS Ambulatory Specialty Model beginning January 1, 2027, Dr. Timothy Deer on how ASPN selects experts for consensus guidelines, the launch of the Regenerative Medicine Division in Miami Beach, and a tribute to the late Dr. Michael A. Fishman.
Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Jordan Tate · Contributing Editor: Dr. Nikhil Verma
Every Issue
The Archive
2026
2025
Advancing Competency: Building the Future of Interventional Spine Care
The new MIS certification program debuts with 39 candidates sitting for exams in Miami, a look at the widening gap in fellowship procedural training, and the ACCESS AI series ahead.
Charting the Future of Pain & Neuroscience: Leadership, AI, and Education
A new AI Division charged with drafting a constitution for AI in spine and nerve care, the MIS certification course preview, and a recap of a 3,000-attendee Miami meeting.
Shaping the Next Era of Pain and Spine Medicine
Advocacy on three fronts: SI joint coverage determinations, CPT coding for PNS, and a rebuttal to the BMJ opioid guideline, plus Dr. Deer’s call for disruption.
Innovating Pain Care: Building Brands, Advancing Medicine
Closed-loop SCS consensus statements in the Journal of Pain Research, employer survey findings on fellowship training, and a restructured Young Innovators Committee.
2024
Life in the Arena: Impactful Figures in Interventional Spine
The 2025 Physician Fee Schedule cuts the conversion factor, ASPN opposes non-coverage of intradiscal biologics, and London plans take shape for ISPN.
Empathy in Medicine
Pending DEA guidance on intrathecal medication delivery, SI joint RFA coverage advocacy, and Dr. Deer writes candidly about becoming a patient.
Building Bridges to Better Healthcare
An advocacy win expands closed-loop SCS coverage to more than 200 million covered lives, plus SI joint fusion policy comments and the 6th Annual Meeting preview.
We Will Change the World
A 3.34 percent Medicare conversion factor cut, pressure on Cigna over basivertebral nerve ablation coverage, and ISPN’s inaugural Dubai meeting draws over 300 registrants.
2023
Curiosity, Politics, and the Endgame: The Best Way to Lead and Practice
A potential CMS cut to spinal cord stimulation code 63688, formal comments on the mild Procedure, and NEURON’s expanding consensus guideline slate.
Revelation and Revival: The Journey Starts with Love
New Category I CPT codes for PNS and SI joint fusion, the launch of the NEURON publication series, and a record 2,200-attendee Annual Meeting recap.
Raising the Bar: Innovation and Collaboration to Treat Chronic Pain
HCSC removes the investigational label from closed-loop SCS after ASPN comments, three new best practice guidelines in the Journal of Pain Research, and the first ISPN Dubai preview.
The COVID-19 Taskforce Series
ASPN’s newsletter began during the pandemic as the COVID-19 Taskforce series: rapid practice guidance for pain physicians navigating telemedicine, procedure safety, and patient access under outbreak conditions. The society newsletter in its current form resumed in 2023.
- Issue 5
ASPN Newsletter Issue #5
- Issue 4
Cancer Pain Care in the COVID Environment Cancer pain management under pandemic conditions and a side-by-side intrathecal pump platform comparison.
- Issue 3
COVID-19 Taskforce Newsletter Issue #3
- Issue 2
COVID-19 Taskforce Newsletter Standing up telemedicine fast: relaxed CMS rules, HIPAA enforcement relief, and a warning that opioid withdrawal can mimic COVID-19 symptoms.
- Issue 1
COVID-19 Taskforce Newsletter Issue #1