John V. Prunskis, MD, sheds insight into the evolving pain management field and how interventional pain physicians can succeed in light of these changes.
Question: What spurred you to launch the Illinois Pain Institute?
Dr. John V. Prunskis: I founded Illinois Pain Institute with my wife, Dr. Terri Dallas Prunskis, who was the chairman of the University of Chicago's pain program for seven years. I was busy as an anesthesiologist and a pain physician in the Chicago suburbs. We decided to do something that was not done before in the Chicago area, and that was to start a multi-site private pain practice.
Q: How have approaches to treat pain management evolved over the last few years?
JP: Pain management treatments have become more precise in their diagnostic abilities. There are better outcomes from the treatments that are available and reduced incidence of surgeries. The market has more competition as there are more people putting themselves out as pain physicians. It is more fun to practice because outcomes are better.
Q: What challenges do pain management physicians continue to face and what are the opportunities?
JP: There are continually challenges with insurance companies. There are also challenges if providers are in a state that does not have caps on medical malpractice awards. I am aware of these issues on a micro scale because of my practice, as well as on a macro scale with the leadership positions I hold with various professional and medical societies.
The opportunities for interventional pain physicians are especially present for those who can reduce or eliminate the need for spine surgery while also reducing the number of opioid narcotics they prescribe.
There is a wide range of outcomes from one pain physician to another. Those that are more in tune to precisely diagnosing the source of a patient's pain and then fixing it with non-surgical techniques are going to be able to reduce opiate narcotic dosing. There are also multiple medications that help reduce the pain by fixing the problem, not masking it, thereby reducing the need for opiate narcotic pain medications.
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