For referring providers
Refer a patient.
Dr. Boody sees adults and adolescents with cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine problems at four Indiana Spine Group offices.
Referral contacts
Three ways to reach the team.
Referrals are scheduled by Indiana Spine Group. Your office will receive the consult note after the visit, and Dr. Boody's team will call you directly if the findings change the urgency.
- Phone
- (317) 228-7000
Carmel office and ISG main line. Ask for new patient scheduling for Dr. Boody. - Fax
- Fax number to be confirmed with ISG.
Send the face sheet, imaging reports, and the items in the referral checklist below. - Online
- Use the form on this page for a callback, or have the patient request an appointment through the Indiana Spine Group booking page.
- Offices
- Carmel (317) 228-7000, Fishers (317) 564-6800, Greenfield (317) 428-5027, Muncie (765) 283-0150. Addresses and hours.
When to refer
When is a spine consult appropriate?
Most back and neck pain does not need a surgeon. A consult is an evaluation, not a commitment to operate; a good share of referred patients are sent back with a non-surgical plan.
Emergencies go to the emergency department, not the clinic. Cauda equina symptoms (new bowel or bladder dysfunction, saddle anesthesia), rapidly progressive weakness, an unstable spine injury, or a suspected epidural abscess with neurologic change need same-day imaging and evaluation in the ER. Trauma and urgent referral guidance →
Neurologic changes
Weakness, hand function, or gait
Progressive neurologic deficit
Weakness that is getting worse on serial exams, a foot drop, or grip loss. Deficit that is progressing over days rather than months should be seen quickly, not at the next open slot.
Signs of cervical myelopathy
Clumsy hands, a change in handwriting, gait imbalance, hyperreflexia, a positive Hoffmann sign, or new urinary urgency. Myelopathy rarely improves on its own, and function lost while waiting is often not recovered.
Persistent or returning symptoms
Pain despite care or after surgery
Radiculopathy that has not settled
Arm or leg pain from a pinched nerve that persists after 6 to 12 weeks of conservative care (activity modification, physical therapy, medication, and an injection where appropriate), or pain the patient cannot tolerate while waiting.
Pain after previous spine surgery
Symptoms that never resolved, returned, or appeared above or below a fusion. Non-union, adjacent segment disease, and hardware problems each need a specific workup. Dr. Boody treats revision cases, including surgery done elsewhere.
Structural findings
Fracture, deformity, infection, or a mass
Fracture or suspected instability
Any cervical, thoracic, or lumbar fracture identified on imaging, a spondylolisthesis with motion on flexion-extension films, or a post-traumatic patient with midline tenderness and pending imaging. See the trauma guidance below for unstable injuries.
Deformity, infection, or a mass
Adolescent or adult scoliosis, sagittal imbalance, suspected discitis, osteomyelitis, or epidural abscess, and lesions found incidentally on imaging that need a surgical opinion.
Ready to refer? Gather the referral checklist →
What to send
Your referral checklist.
Gather these records before the appointment so more of the visit can be spent explaining the problem to your patient.
Imaging & surgical history
Images and reports
- MRI, CT, and X-rays: actual images on disc or through an image-sharing link, plus reports.
- Flexion-extension films if instability is a question.
Previous spine surgery If applicable
- Operative report and levels treated.
- Implant manufacturer and system, if known.
- Post-operative imaging.
Exam & treatment history
Neurologic exam findings
- Strength by muscle group, sensory changes, reflexes, and gait, with dates.
- A documented baseline to show whether a deficit is stable or progressing.
Conservative care tried
- Physical therapy: duration and response.
- Medications and any bracing.
- Injections: type, level, and how long relief lasted.
Referral & patient details
The question you want answered
- One line is enough: “Is this fusion healed?” or “Is she a candidate for disc replacement?”
- The consult note will answer it directly.
Insurance and demographics
- Insurance carrier, member ID, and a current phone number.
- Whether the plan requires referral authorization.
- Workers’ compensation: claim number and adjuster.
Where to send records
Call Indiana Spine Group to confirm the fax number. Send the face sheet, imaging reports, and the records above. Use the callback form for patient initials only, with no identifiers, records, or images.
Trauma and urgent referrals
Unstable injuries go through the ER. Stable ones can come to clinic.
Dr. Boody treats spine trauma and spinal cord injury and edits the spinal trauma section of The Textbook of Spine Surgery. The first question for any fracture is stability. An unstable injury, a fracture with canal compromise, or any neurologic deficit after trauma should be transferred through the emergency department for imaging, immobilization, and surgical evaluation in the hospital, not booked into a clinic slot.
A stable fracture already imaged and cleared by the ER, a compression fracture found on outpatient films, or a patient in a brace who needs follow-up can be seen in the office. Call and say the referral is a fracture so it is scheduled ahead of routine consults.
Send to the emergency department
- Any new neurologic deficit after a fall, crash, or other trauma
- Fracture with instability, canal narrowing, or a deformity on CT
- Suspected spinal cord injury: weakness, numbness, or bladder change below a level
- Cauda equina symptoms from any cause
- Suspected epidural abscess with fever, back pain, and neurologic change
Call the office
- Stable fracture already evaluated and discharged from an ER
- Compression fracture on outpatient imaging with no deficit
- Brace follow-up, or a fracture that is not healing as expected
What your patient will hear
The same explanation his fellows get.
Dr. Boody is core faculty for the Indiana Spine Group spine fellowship and an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine. He explains cases to patients the way he explains them to fellows: what the imaging shows, which finding accounts for the symptoms, which findings do not, and what surgery can and cannot fix. Your patient looks at their own MRI or CT with him.
Non-surgical care comes first when it fits. When it does not, or when it has already been tried, he describes the specific operation he would recommend, the alternatives, and the realistic recovery, then sends the consult note back to you with the reasoning. Patients who are not surgical candidates are told so plainly and returned to your care with a plan.
Related: his research and teaching roles, conditions treated, and treatments offered.
Appointments
Start the referral today.
Call the office, send the patient to the request form, or have them book directly through Indiana Spine Group.