Denial of Payment after Successful Prior Authorization: The Latest Commercial Payer Ruse featuring Luis Tumialan, MD, FAANS

Denial of Payment after Successful Prior Authorization: The Latest Commercial Payer Ruse featuring Luis Tumialan, MD, FAANS

Luis Manuel Tumialán is a Professor of Neurosurgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute specializing in minimally invasive spinal surgery. He graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine, completed his internship at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. Dr. Tumialán completed additional training in undersea medicine in Groton Connecticut and Navy Dive School in Panama City, Florida. Upon completion of his operational training, he served as the Diving Medical Officer assigned to Naval Special Warfare Unit One in Guam during the Global War on Terror in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001. He received a Naval and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for service in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Southeast Asia and a Navy Humanitarian Medal for the search and maritime rescue of a foreign national.

Once he returned to the mainland, Dr. Tumialán completed his neurosurgery training at Emory University School of Medicine and returned to the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. He joined Barrow Brain and Spine in 2010 where he serves as the director of minimally invasive spine surgery. Dr. Tumialán’s main interests are in minimally invasive spinal surgery and motion preservation surgery as well as developing techniques for the next generation of spinal surgery.

Dr. Tumialán has served as the Scientific Program Chairman and Annual Meeting Chairman for the AANS/CNS Spine Section, and currently serves as Secretary for that organization. He has also served as the Scientific Program Chair for the Society of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgeons (SMISS) and the International Society for the Advancement of Spinal Surgery (ISASS). His interest in socioeconomics has led him to the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (CSNS) where he has served as Treasurer, Corresponding Secretary and is currently the Vice Chair of the Organization.

Dr. Tumialán is on the editorial board for both the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine and Associate Editor for Operative Neurosurgery. He has authored over 100 peer reviewed publications and over 20 book chapters on spinal surgery.

In 2020, Dr. Tumialán published a single authored textbook entitled “Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery: A Primer”. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Andrea, his three sons (Julian, Andreas and Lucian) and his daughter (Soledad).