The push for more pain management options has spurred innovation and providers are offering patients more options to mitigate or find the source of patients' pain. As our nation battles an opioid epidemic, however, the CDC is imposing stricter prescribing requirements.
"There has been both an entirely appropriate contraction in the utility of opioid therapy for our patients," says W. Porter McRoberts, MD, of Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "Our specialty promotes safe pain relief approaches without addiction or dependence from rational and appropriate caregivers backed by high level evidence. This goal is becoming increasingly available to most of our U.S. population."
Pain management specialists often have to face dwindling reimbursement, which may compromise patient care.
"Reimbursement and coverage affects us disproportionately because our disparate group is hard to organize, and so the auspicious advancements [in pain management] as standard of care approaches continue to be challenged by insurers at every turn," Dr. McRoberts adds.
Febin Melepura, MD, of New York City-based Stanford Pain & Sports Medicine, explains pain management physicians are plagued by several challenges when treating patients, ranging from spiraling healthcare costs and increased bureaucracy for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
Despite these challenges, the pain management field is undergoing tremendous transformations with providers utilizing new techniques. Research is flooding the industry, allowing pain management specialists to better understand the source of a patient's pain. Treatments are tailored toward a patient, with interventions becoming increasingly precise.
"There are more minimally invasive surgical techniques that help patients regain their functionality more quickly. Additionally, we now use spinal cord stimulators for neuromodulations and help chronic pain patients from suffering," Dr. Melepura says.
While new techniques have taken hold, many barriers lay ahead especially for patients. High quality care may often not come cheap, and pain does not discriminate, affecting people from all walks of life.
"The greatest innovations for physicians and hospitals will be working towards a combined solution where plasticity in site of service and payment models, allows safe delivery of innovative, tailored approaches," Dr. McRoberts says. "This is what patients want and should have even if their insurers don't. Our challenge is to preserve access to the highest quality care for the most people in an increasingly contentious environment."
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