New to POST?
To get started with ABNS POST you must first request access.
- Be sure to include your full name and residency program with completion date
- Only candidates who meet the prerequisites for ABNS certification will be provisioned in ABNS POST
If you have an ABNS POST account and are ready to learn more about your initial certification…
Already have your POST account?
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR ABNS POST ACCOUNT HOLDERS who have had an account prior to 12/14/2020:
Browser support for the ABNS POST app expired in January of 2021. In order to continue using ABNS POST you must download the appropriate client application:
After installing the ABNS POST Client, you may log in with your account credentials.
What is ABNS POST?
ABNS POST is an integrated IT platform that is designed to advance the ABNS’ mission of promoting safe, effective and appropriate neurosurgical care. POST allows for the submission, analysis and presentation of clinical data from practice, along with other information that is relevant to the ABNS’ evaluation and certification processes. Those processes include the ABNS oral examination, CC and focused practice.
The primary function of POST is to support the ABNS oral exam. ABNS candidates can use POST to collect case data for ABNS review in addition to preparing selected case presentations in PowerPoint format for the oral exam (evolving a previously multistep process to a consolidated procedure).
Past ABNS clinical data systems primarily utilized text fields which often led to variable data submission and occasionally missing data elements. POST’s design allows for the collection of discrete data elements describing patient variables, diagnoses, procedures, clinical decision-making and outcomes. This format allows for uniform and complete data submission, along with the development of true national benchmarks for performance and experience. These factors ensure objective and equitable reviews of presented information and mitigate the potential that candidates will have to resubmit data due to missing elements.
In addition to discrete data fields, the ABNS has retained several text field options, should ABNS candidates or other POST users wish to augment the required data with other information relevant to clinical decision-making. Some text fields are required and others are optional. Text fields also provide candidates and other POST users a forum to provide information they feel would be useful to the review process.
See two examples of case log entries:
- Aneurysm clipping
- Endovascular case
These are intended for illustrative purposes only, as a way to assist in entry of case data into ABNS POST.
Highlights of POST:
The addition of imaging data is perhaps the most significant enhancement to ABNS case review processes.
Analysis of imaging data are critical to understanding clinical outcomes and decision-making in neurological surgery. Review of imaging data is a key component of the oral exam format. When imaging is a standard part of the clinical decision-making process, candidates will be required to submit between 1-8 case images (pre-, intra or post-operative) in POST.
The data submission tool is broken down into four main sections:
Dashboard
Project overview, system updates and links to important supplementary information.
Case Logs
A listing of all your case logs in the system. If you have only one case log, it opens it.
My Practice
Includes individual physician profile and practice details.
My Cases
The POST clinical data entry system allows for adding new cases and edit existing ones.
Site of Service
Please make sure to complete practice details in the ‘My Practice’ section in ABNS POST before you begin entering your cases. Remember to save before proceeding. This section specifies the site of service list that must be completed before selecting a site of service in an individual case.
The outline below identifies the information needed to enter a complete case.
- Overview: Patient and site of service
- Medical History and Medications
- Neurological Diagnoses
- Surgical Management: Description of procedure(s), surgical adjunct used, surgical role and CPT code entry
- Clinical Summary: History and presentation and physical examination
- Imaging and Testing: Include up to eight images: preoperative, intraoperative or postoperative
- Non-surgical Management
- Surgical Outcomes: Objectives of surgery, immediately post-operative outcomes (during hospital stay), intermediate post-operative outcomes (discharge to three months) and late outcomes (3-12 months)
The amount of data input required will be variable between submitted cases—this feature is intentional.
In sections that allow for entry of variable amounts of information (e.g., medical history, imaging data), it is suggested to include the minimum (i.e. essential) information you would require to explain your clinical decision-making and justify the clinical outcome(s) to another clinical colleague regarding the specific case being described. See examples below.
Example 1:
Elderly patient presenting with large subdural hematoma after fall and undergoes emergent craniotomy, subsequently experiences a post-operative hemorrhage requiring return to OR. In this instance, medical comorbidities and likely medications that increase risk of bleeding complications (e.g. aspirin, Plavix) are relevant to both decision-making and clinical outcomes and should be included in the submission.
Example 2:
Young patient undergoes routine microdiscectomy lumbar HNP, has routine post-operative course and experiences excellent outcomes. In this instance, the presence of mild, diet-controlled DM is not likely of great significance to clinical management or outcomes and this data can be excluded.
POST for Initial Certification
If you are new to ABNS POST, we have prepared the following videos to help you learn more and get started.
Already have an ABNS POST account?
Every candidate preparing to take the oral examination must prepare and submit a case log for review.
Effective April 24, 2019: Requirements for the case log submission are detailed below:
- 125 consecutive cases
- All cases must have been performed over a period of 18 months or less
- All cases must have three months follow-up
- Follow-up may be performed outside the 18-month window
- “Staged procedures” will count towards the total of 125
- Complication management or revision (“takeback” surgery) is considered an extension of the original operation and will not be counted towards the 125 total cases
- Clinical data must be from at least 100 unique patient encounters
- No case can be older than 24 months from the date of submission
- Cases during residency or fellowships should not be included
- Diagnostic angiograms count as major cases and should be entered into POST. However, no more than 25 consecutive diagnostic angiograms can be counted as major cases. After 25 diagnostic angiograms have been entered into POST, no more should be added. The only exception is that any patients having major complications related to angiography must be included, even if they occur after the first 25 angiograms. Remember that, without exception, all other types of major cases must be entered consecutively.
- If tracking for ABPNS and ABNS dual credential, 95 of the 125 must be cases performed on patients 21 years or younger
- If after logging the required 125 consecutive cases, there are not 95 PEDS cases add ONLY the necessary number of PEDS cases to reach the requirement of 95.
Please note: The total number of submitted surgical procedures may exceed 125 cases due to “takeback” surgeries
Once submitted, the data is reviewed by an ABNS director as part of the credentialing process for ABNS initial certification.
To request an account for ABNS initial certification, please fill out the following form:
Include your name, residency program and completion date of residency training. Candidate accounts will only be provisioned to individuals who meet the prerequisites for ABNS certification.
Diagnostic angiograms count as major cases and should be entered into POST. However, no more than 25 consecutive diagnostic angiograms can be counted as major cases. After 25 diagnostic angiograms have been entered into POST, no more should be added. The only exception is that any patients having major complications related to angiography must be included, even if they occur after the first 25 angiograms. Remember that, without exception, all other types of major cases must be entered consecutively.
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