At the 2018 Insurance Rehab Synergy Group Annual Conference, Elizabeth Sandel, MD, Medical Director for Paradigm Managment Services, discussed post-concussive syndrome. Annually there around 2.5 million people with concussions and it is estimated that 25% of the population will have a concussion at some point in their life. Incidents of concussions are up significantly, but this is likely due to greater awareness of the issue so people seek treatment. According to a NPR-Truven poll, 29% of people who reported they have had a concussion say they have long-term headaches. However, there is no validation that the headaches are linked to
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At the 2018 Insurance Rehab Synergy Group Annual Conference, a panel discussed the use of telemedicine. The panel included: Mark Johnson – Sedgwick (moderator) Teresa Bartlett, MD – SVP and Senior Medical Officer, Sedgwick Alan Lee, PT, DPT, PhD, CWS – Professor, Mount Saint Mary’s University Ted Jeffries – Director of Claims, Missouri Employers Mutual Telehealth really started in the military. There was not an expert available in the field all the time when needed so the physicians communicated with the field operatives to assist them in stabilizing and treating the patients. Telehealth is also very common in cancer care
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At the 2018 Insurance Rehab Synergy Group Annual Conference, Ingrid O’Keefe from MCG Health discussed the use of evidence based medicine in the development of treatment guidelines and drug formularies in workers’ compensation. Evidence based medicine is healthcare based on clinical studies of what works best and what does not. It involves transparent literature review to determine what is considered the best supported treatments and standards. Treatment guidelines take evidence based medicine one step further in providing medical treatment recommendation based on scientific studies. There are commercially developed guidelines, specialty treatment guidelines, and state specific guidelines. Guidelines are based on
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Felix Laevsky, MS, from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab discussed how biofeedback is used in pain management treatment. Role of Biofeedback Develop skills to evoke relaxation response and control stress response. Develop skills to manage pain and pain related symptoms at any time in any real life situation. Develop skills to control symptoms while learning and implementing techniques taught by other disciplines. Become aware of one’s own abilities and capabilities of controlling psychological functions. Biofeedback teaches patients how to control their relaxation response. By doing this, patients can decrease their metabolism, heart
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Hannah Nilles, PT, DPT, from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, discussed the role of physical therapy in a multidisciplinary pain management program. When patients start physical therapy in a multidisciplinary pain management program, their initial reaction is to question how this therapy is going to be different from all the therapy they have had in the past. The PT in these programs is different in the following areas: Active instead of passive modalities. Graded exposure. Graded exposure to exercise helps desensitize a sensitive nervous system by using the body to teach the
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At the 2018 Insurance Rehab Synergy Group Annual Conference, Stephen McKenna, MD, Chief of the Rehabilitation Trauma Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center talked about the history of stem cells and the potential from current stem cell trials. Embryonic stem cells are extracted from fertilized human eggs that were not implanted. Often times these were extra eggs left over from fertilization treatments. There has been ethical questions around the use of embryonic stem cells which has caused issues with the funding and authorization of this research. The value of stem cells is that, in theory, they have the ability
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At the 2018 Insurance Rehab Synergy Group Annual Conference, Martin Waalkes, PhD, Director of Neuro Rehabilitation for Hope Network Neuro Rehabilitation discussed the challenges of behavior regulation and engagement in acquired brain injury rehabilitation. One of the biggest challenges with brain injury patients can be with their behavior. Patients can have self-centered behavior and not understand the needs and perceptions of others. They also can have problems with self-control which can lead to issues with aggressiveness, outbursts, and anxiety. Up to 75% of brain injury patients can have issues with irritability. These issues with irritability and agitation can impact the
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Patricia Cole, PhD, from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab discussed the role of psychology in an interdisciplinary pain management program. The initial psychological assessment for an interdisciplinary pain management focuses on whether there are any contra-indications pain management including: Significant cognitive impairment. If the patient has cognitive impairment such as limited short-term memory they are not a good candidate. Making sure their emotional status is stable enough for the pain management program so that they are not a threat to themselves or others. It is important for the patient to be ready
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Management Annual meeting, a panel discussed how you approach patients after they have completed an interdisciplinary pain management program. The panel included: James Atchison, DO – Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Ravi Prasad, PhD – Stanford University School of Medicine Patricia Cole, PhD – Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Elizabeth Gaffron, MOTR/L – Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Sharon Hsu, PhD – Swedish Medical Center Felix Lavsky, MS – Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Kristin Lucas, PT, DPT – Swedish Medical Group Hannah Nilles, PT, DPT – Shirley Ryan Ability Lab The speakers talked about the importance of
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At the 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Meeting, Michael Harris, PhD, from Pacific Rehabilitation Centers, discussed the current state of Interdisciplinary pain treatment programs. Interdisciplinary Care means a group of different specialties and experts who are involved in patient pain care in an equal fashion, and share a single goal of improving the patient’s quality of life. A typical team includes: Medicine/nursing Psychology Physical Therapy Occupational Therapy Biofeedback relaxation Wide variety of alternative approaches These programs started in the Northwest in the 1960s and they have now spread around the world. The first program was accredited in 1986
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