At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Amy Compton-Phillips, MD, EVP, Chief Clinical Officer from Providence Health & Services gave a physician executive’s perspective on the evolving healthcare system. The good news about healthcare is that almost everything is getting better around the world. Life expectancy around the globe is increasing as […]

At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Management Annual Meeting, Catriona Burist, DPhy, from Oregon Health Sciences University discussed the State of Oregon’s experience in developing collaborate Care multidisciplinary models for Medicaid patients. The goal of the Oregon Opioid Initiative was to reduce deaths, non-fatal overdoses, and harm to residents from prescriptions while expanding non-opioid […]

At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, a panel discussed how payers and providers can better collaborate to provide treatment that is both cost-effective and evidence based. The panel included: Kimberly George – Sedgwick (moderator) Steven Stanos, DO – Swedish Health System (moderator) Teresa Bartlett, MD – Sedgwick Geralyn Datz, PhD – […]

At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting a session discussed identifying the ideal candidates for interdisciplinary care. The speakers included: Ravi Prasad, PhD – Stanford University School of Medicine Patricia Cole, PhD – Shirley Ryan AbilityLab There is a big difference between acute pain and chronic pain. Acute pain has a clear […]

At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, James Atchison, DO, from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab discussed working with patients to build a self-treatment plan. Patients need to be educated on both the physical and mental (cognitive) elements of pain. Physical areas of focus for a treatment program: Posture. Body mechanics/positioning. Pacing. Exercise including […]

At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, a session discussed how pain impacts the brain and how treatments can change this. The speakers were: Kristin Lucas, PT, DPT – Swedish Medical Group Elizabeth Gaffron MOTR/L – Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Pain is a natural protective mechanism that impacts many areas of the brain. […]

At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, James Atchison, DO, with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab discussed medication tapering. Opioid reduction/tapering is a key element in any interdisciplinary pain management program. The goal is to reduce the medications while at the same time offering alternative pain management strategies. The goal is not to criticize […]

At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Management Annual Meeting, Ravi Prasad, PhD from Stanford University School of Medicine discussed outcome assessments in pain management. Outcomes tracking challenges: Financial limitations Logistical barriers Uncertainty, what should we assess Implementation of findings Most clinicians are not tracking outcomes because they don’t know how to use this information […]

At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, a panel discussed lessons learned from past use of multidisciplinary pain management programs and how to overcome those barriers in the future. The panel included: Kimberly George – Sedgwick (moderator) Dianne Flynn, MD, MPH – Madigan Army Medical Centers Michael Harris, PhD – Pacific Rehabilitation […]

At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Kimberly George from Sedgwick discussed the payer’s perspective on how stakeholder collaboration can advance the field of pain management. Stakeholders There are many different payers involved in the healthcare payer market. This includes the federal government in terms of Medicare, the Department of Defense, and […]