The Council of State Neurosurgical Society (CSNS) announced that it will award The Spinal Column Surgical Quality and Outcomes Lab the Julius Goodman Socioeconomic Research Award at their national meeting this October. The award is given to the paper of highest impact submitted for presentation at the annual CNS meeting relating to medical and social econimics. The paper entitled, “Acute hospitalization costs following minimally invasive versus open lumbar fusion: Data from a U.S. national database with 6,106 patients” is the first study to demonstrate that minimally invasive approaches to lumbar fusion are associated with significant cost reduction for patients with low-back pain.