Providers of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Meet in Nashville TN to Launch Regional TMS Society

Nashville, Tenn, May 15, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​​​Twelve providers of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) from Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi met Saturday May 9, 2015 at the offices of Nashville TMS located at 30 Burton Hills Blvd, in the Green Hills / Burton Hills area of West Nashville to discuss the state and growth of TMS treatment of Clinical Depression in patients who live in and around Tennessee. 

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is a non-invasive, FDA-cleared treatment that uses highly focused magnetic pulses to stimulate a specific area in the brain that lifts Depression. TMS is a relatively new therapy that involves no drugs and has been proven safe and effective. TMS Therapy is free of the side effects typically experienced with antidepressant medications.

We have extended an invitation to the Associate Medical Director of BCBS Tennessee to let us know when they can meet and we will visit them.

Dr. W. Scott West, Medical Director, Nashville TMS

Providers of TMS Therapy include psychiatrists and physicians who treat patients suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), a serious form of Clinical Depression, who have not previously responded to other modalities of Depression treatment, including anti-depressant medications.

Discussions at the regional meeting included the retelling of many patients’ clinical success stories, Depression treatment parameters, as well as off-label uses of TMS that are proving to be successful for other mental health conditions, such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), neuropathic pain, and Post Partum Depression (PPD).

During discussion at the regional meeting, the providers of TMS expressed excitement with the successes they have experienced in treating patients that have not responded to previous Depression treatments. TMS treatment outcomes significantly outperform other Depression treatments, as proven in clinical studies. The providers also expressed their desire to facilitate greater ‘access’ to the treatment for those non-responders, still suffering from serious Clinical Depression. Greater ‘access’ includes insurance companies’ and other payers’ adequate coverage of the financial costs of providing TMS treatment.

In the meeting, TMS providers also discussed strategies to address the difficulties patients are having with getting adequate coverage of TMS by insurance companies that are often very slow to respond, despite the efficacy of this FDA cleared, proven effective treatment for Depression.

BCBS of Tennessee, a major payer for over half of all covered lives in the state, now has a TMS coverage policy in place, and is developing the policy criteria and process. It was reported that BCBS of TN (BCBST) was invited to the regional providers meeting in Nashville in order to open lines of communication and facilitate greater understanding of TMS’ benefits to all parties – the patients’ recovery, the payers’ cost savings and the providers’ ability to treat patients and deliver a greater percentage of successful outcomes. BCBST declined the invitation, and did not attend. Subsequently, regional TMS providers extended a follow-up invitation to BCBS of Tennessee’s Associate Medical Director in order to further discuss these matters and the adequacy of BCBST’s TMS policy. 

TMS provider discussions will be continued at the Third Annual Meeting of the Clinical TMS Society held in Toronto from May 16 - May 18, 2015 at The Westin Harbour Castle and in future local and regional meetings of TMS providers. 

About the Clinical TMS Society: The Clinical TMS Society was formed as a professional association 501(c)6 and its members include TMS providers with extensive clinical and research experience from across the United States and the world. According to their website, the Society hopes to assist members in optimizing the administration of TMS, develop novel indications for TMS therapy, expand insurance coverage, increase public awareness of TMS, and advertise individual TMS clinics.