At the 11th Annual Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference on June 13, Scott Glaser, MD, DABIPP, of Pain Specialists of Chicago discussed how pain management practices can approach improving care and increasing efficiency. In a session titled “Interventional Pain Management and ACOs: New Concepts to Reduce ER Visits, Hospitalizations and Readmissions,” Dr. Glaser discussed the challenges to treating acute and chronic pain as well as how ASCs can create a more productive paradigm of care.
Every year more than $9 billion is spent on inpatient stays for lower back and musculoskeletal pain, which is a major driver of healthcare costs, Dr. Glaser said. In the current culture of care, patients and general practitioners are not always clear on where to seek treatment of musculoskeletal pain or the type of relieve pain management physicians can provide.
This confusion has lead to growing problems with opioid use and prescribing. These problems include:
- Patients developing a tolerance and addiction
- Skyrocketing ER visits for accidental abuse, misuse or overdose
- Lost work productivity
- Increased mortality, morbidity and costs
In the current problematic paradigm of pain management care, physicians often work as consultants rather than interventionalists. Little coordination of care exists among physician specialties and patients receive duplicative testing and treatments.
Dr. Glaser suggested a new paradigm to be based on three concepts:
1. Treatments: Identify and treat sources of spine pain with minimally invasive procedures
2. Treat symptoms but don’t ignore the pain
3. Education and behavior modification to maximize function and prevent recurrences
“A well-trained interventional pain management physician knows everything that can be done for spine pain short of open surgery,” he said. “We should be the ones running the show. There would be better costs savings, and we could add great value to ACOs.”
Every year more than $9 billion is spent on inpatient stays for lower back and musculoskeletal pain, which is a major driver of healthcare costs, Dr. Glaser said. In the current culture of care, patients and general practitioners are not always clear on where to seek treatment of musculoskeletal pain or the type of relieve pain management physicians can provide.
This confusion has lead to growing problems with opioid use and prescribing. These problems include:
- Patients developing a tolerance and addiction
- Skyrocketing ER visits for accidental abuse, misuse or overdose
- Lost work productivity
- Increased mortality, morbidity and costs
In the current problematic paradigm of pain management care, physicians often work as consultants rather than interventionalists. Little coordination of care exists among physician specialties and patients receive duplicative testing and treatments.
Dr. Glaser suggested a new paradigm to be based on three concepts:
1. Treatments: Identify and treat sources of spine pain with minimally invasive procedures
2. Treat symptoms but don’t ignore the pain
3. Education and behavior modification to maximize function and prevent recurrences
“A well-trained interventional pain management physician knows everything that can be done for spine pain short of open surgery,” he said. “We should be the ones running the show. There would be better costs savings, and we could add great value to ACOs.”