Chiari Neurosurgical Center

OUTPATIENT DIAGNOSTIC ACTIVITY
During the Pandemic

The diagnostic activity of the Center (screening, initial consultations, follow-ups, etc.) is ongoing at the usual speed and volume, using Telemedicine.

Telemedicine has been an option in our Center since its inception.
Even before COVID-19, more than 85% of our clinical encounters have been by Telemedicine.
Therefore, stepping up to 100% has not been a big problem for us.

Our Telemedicine platform is called VSee and is 100% HIPAA Compliant.

For the safety of our Staff and their families, the main office is manned by a skeleton crew, for a short part of the day.
The staff members of the Chiari/EDS team are working from their homes.

These logistical arrangements and your individual safety mandate some adjustments to the past routines:

• DO NOT CALL THE OFFICE PHONE LINES, BUT USE EMAIL TO COMMUNICATE WITH US INSTEAD (SEE DETAILS BELOW)
• DO NOT GO TO THE POST OFFICE, FEDEX, UPS, ETC. TO MAIL PACKAGES OUR WAY, BUT USE ELECTRONIC DATA TRANSFER INSTEAD (SEE DETAILS BELOW)

EMAIL COMMUNICATION

The following is the list of the members of our team, along with their respective roles, and their email addresses:

• VANESSA QUEZADA ( vquezada@nspc.com)
  is the gatekeeper for the incoming files of any prospective patient (= people who would like to be first evaluated at our Center)
  
• IRENE PENDERGAST (ipendergast@nspc.com)
  is the personal assistant of Dr. Bolognese and she directs the traffic of the outpatient activity after the initial selection
• DAWN VERITY (dverity@nspc.com)
  is our surgical coordinator and directs the traffic of the surgical activity
• ASHLEY YUSSEF (ayussef@nspc.com)
  is in charge of obtaining authorizations from the insurances
• PHIL PAPADIMAS (ppapadimas@nspc.com)
  is the personal PA of Dr. Bolognese and facilitates outpatient and inpatient activity, besides assisting in the OR; he is also in charge of writing scripts for the diagnostic tests which are needed
  
• JACKIE HUNTER (jhunter@nspc.com)
  is the senior PA and is in charge of the daily inpatient postoperative management
  
• YANSI INTERIANO (Yansi.Interiano@snch.org)
  is the hospital liaison for our Center at Mount Sinai South Nassau
  
• Dr. Roger W. Kula (rogerwkula@chiarinsc.com)
  is the Medical Director of the Center
  
• Dr. Paolo Bolognese (pbolognese@chiarinsc.com | pbolognese@nspc.com)
  is the Surgical Director of the Center

DOCUMENTS AND ELECTRONIC DATA TRANSFER

Do not fax or mail documents or CD-ROM’s.

Email documents to us.
If the original template is a WORD file, send it back as such.
For anything else, make a PDF file using a scanner, and email it to the pertinent member of the team.

IMAGING AND ELECTRONIC DATA TRANSFER

When in possession of the CD-ROM, do not mail them over.
It will expose you, the mail workers, and our staff to the possibility of contagion.

Instead of mailing, you can use BOX.com or DROPBOX.

BOX.COM
Email to Dr. Bolognese at pbolognese@nspc.com when you are ready.
He will open a folder with your name on BOX.COM and he will electronically invite you via email.
Then upload the contents of the disc on the folder.
When done, notify Dr. Bolognese by email.

DROPBOX
Open an account on your own, upload the contents of the disc, then invite Dr. Bolognese at pbolognese@nspc.com

 

NEW PATIENTS

PROTOCOL FOR THE ENROLLMENT OF PROSPECTIVE NEW PATIENTS

 If you suspect any of the following below, click link and follow instructions

• Chiari Malformation CMI
• Craniocervical Instability
• Tethered cord
• Syringomyelia & Syringobulbia
• Eagle Syndrome

ATTENTION: Do not mail documents or imaging, as indicated in those files, but follow the instructions above relative to ELECTRONIC DATA TRANSFER

FOLLOW UPS:
IF YOU HAVE A MEDICAL PROBLEM, OR YOU NEED A FOLLOWUP

Contact one of the following team members:

• IRENE PENDERGAST is the personal assistant of Dr. Bolognese and she directs the traffic of the outpatient activity after the initial selection ipendergast@nspc.com
• PHIL PAPADIMAS is the personal PA of Dr. Bolognese and facilitates outpatient and inpatient activity, besides assisting in the OR; he is also in charge of writing scripts for the diagnostic tests which are needed
  ppapadimas@nspc.com
• Dr. Roger W. Kula is the Medical Director of the Center
  rogerwkula@chiarinsc.com
  Dr. Paolo Bolognese is the Surgical Director of the Center
  pbolognese@chiarinsc.com
  pbolognese@nspc.com