About us
SpineFirst is a premier partnership between Atrium Health and Carolina NeuroSurgery & Spine Associates, two nationally recognized leaders in the field of spine care. Through this collaboration, we offer seamless access to exceptional care for any spine-related need.
Explore our services and learn why patients choose us. Plus, discover how we provide the highest level of spine care by earning trust, fueling innovation and yielding outstanding results for patients.
Trust
The organizations behind SpineFirst have worked together for more than 80 years. Together, we’ve earned the trust of the community through shared accomplishments and milestones in the field of spine care, including:
- Being first in the Southeast to earn advanced certification in spine surgery from the Joint Commission (2021)
- Collaborating to care for over 40,000 surgical spine patients since 2012
- Establishing the Carolina Center For Specialty Surgery, a leader in outpatient surgery quality and outcomes
- Establishing the Neurological Surgery Residency Program at Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center (CMC)
- Providing the highest level of emergency care for spinal injuries at CMC, the region's only Level I trauma center
Innovation
SpineFirst surgeons have pioneered groundbreaking spine procedures and continue to innovate. This neurosurgical team is responsible for:
- Performing more cervical and lumbar microendoscopic discectomy (MED) procedures than any other neurosurgical team in the country
- Developing cervical MED, a widely used minimally invasive technique
- Being first in the Carolinas to implant an artificial disc to successfully treat degenerative disc disease
- Performing the first navigated minimally invasive lumbar fusion in a freestanding ambulatory surgery center, the Carolina Center For Specialty Surgery
Results
The only true measure of success is how patients feel after receiving care – whether their pain has improved, or they’ve returned to the activities they enjoy. For decades, the providers of SpineFirst have been pioneers in determining and delivering proven nonsurgical and surgical spine care to achieve the best outcomes.Neurosurgeons from SpineFirst were the first in the country to establish the Quality Outcomes Database (QOD), a shared quality data collection platform that allows surgeons around the United States to compare the effectiveness of different treatment options.
The QOD has now evolved into the American Spine Registry, a collaborative effort of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. SpineFirst doctors contribute to and use this platform to deliver the evidence-based care that will be most effective for patients.
SpineFirst - A Premier Partnership Between Atrium Health & CNSA
An extraordinary partnership
Atrium Health is a nationally recognized leader in shaping health outcomes through research, education and compassionate patient care. It is an integrated, nonprofit health system with more than 70,000 teammates serving patients at nearly 40 hospitals and more than 1,500 care locations across the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama. A recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research, Wake Forest University School of Medicine is the academic core of the Atrium Health enterprise. Atrium Health is also a leading-edge innovator in virtual care and mobile medicine, providing care close to home and in the home.
Carolina NeuroSurgery & Spine Associates, established in 1940, is one of the oldest and now largest private neurosurgical practices in the country. The group consists of 50 physicians, 41 advanced practice providers, and over 500 employees. The medical group provides brain and spine care services to include adult and pediatric neurosurgery, spine surgery, physical medicine & rehabilitation known as physiatry, neurology, pain management and physical therapy.
They provide advanced surgical and non-surgical treatment for the entire spectrum of brain, spine, and peripheral nerve disorders, to include brain tumors, spine deformities and injuries, stroke, epilepsy, birth defects, concussions, neck and lower back pain, and pituitary tumors. Now with 10 office locations spanning the Carolinas, over 230,000 patients annually receive individualized brain and spine care.