Here are five ways for spine pain management physicians to promote a successful practice and succeed in the future.
1. Educate your patient about back pain. Many people who arrive with spine pain are physically fit, but they are still experiencing back pain because they don't know how to condition their spines. "People are staying health and active but sometimes weekend warriors tend to overdo it," says Eli Finkelstein, MD, physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Resurgens Orthopaedics in Cumming and Roswell, Ga. If this is the case, provide the patient with tips about conditioning their spine and back for physical activity and enable the patient to maximize flexibility and core strength. Taking time to sit down and educate your patients about their specific condition will help them understand how they can heal and prevent future injury.
2. A common source of spine problems unknown to patients is genetics. "Genetics play a big role and patients do not realize it," says Dr. Finkelstein. Genes can make people more susceptible to spine disease and injury. When Patients have a history of back problems taking a more active approach to preventing disease and injury is important. This might mean patients needs to change their daily routine or work with a physiatrist or interventional spine specialist to develop a treatment protocol that is specific to their needs.
Patients may also benefit from a combination of medications, physical therapy, imaging studies and injections. I. most circumstances, a combination of these proposed treatments will suffice. On occasion, surgery may be warranted. The responsibility falls on the physician to appropriately evaluate the source for spine pain and determine their primary "pain generator." This will help streamline their care and provide the best possible solution for healing, restoration of functional activity and return to their regular lifestyle. Performing unnecessary or unhelpful procedures or surgery wastes precious healthcare dollars. "I feel it is vital for the physician to set realistic expectations for each individual patient for their recovery," he says.
3. Know your insurance providers and their protocols. Pain management physicians and interventionalists often encounter issues as they work with insurance companies to approve services for their patients. "Due to a lack of evidence-based study results, insurance companies deny pain management procedures for patients because they do not find them to be credible solutions for treating back pain," says Dr. Finkelstein. In addition, procedures are often denied as the treating physician may have to steer away from specific clinical pathway or algorithm dictated by the insurance company. It is extremely important for treating physicians to be verbal and educate insurance companies and provide that patient's need to be treated as individuals, and that on occasion not every patient care clearly follow or fit a specific clinical care pathway. There needs to be room for exceptions to the rule to provide patients with their best potential treatment solution to maximize outcomes.
4. Engage in peer and literature reviews to ensure quality of care. While the majority of pain management physicians are responsible about their practice, it is important for colleagues to ensure that pain management physicians are following the standard of care. If unqualified physicians perform spine interventions with bad outcomes, it reflects poorly on spine pain management as a legitimate means of treating pain. This can also be harmful in advancing future treatment needs in a field of medicine that is influenced by evidence-based outcomes. The responsibility falls upon physicians to review current literature ad review their peers to make sure injections and interventions are being done for the right reasons.
5. Evidence-based medicine cannot always be black and white. A great deal of attention is always focused on evidence-based medicine. Many evidence-based studies are inconclusive about the efficacy of interventional pain management for the spine. These results can be problematic for physicians and insurance companies as they design treatment protocols and algorithms for patient care. Although it is better research and studies that will advance us in the future, pain management physicians are also accountable to the individual patient who looks to them for answers.
A specific intervention or treatment might not be a cure, but it can give patients back their function and dignity so they can have a better quality of life. "You are always going to look towards evidence-based and controlled studies as a guideline, but you can't just look at the black-and-white," says Dr. Finkelstein. "You have to understand the individual patient and provide them their best options for complete recovery and healing."
Learn more about Dr. Eli Finkelstein.
Related Articles to Spine Pain Management:
10 Biggest Trends in Spine Pain Management
5 Points on the Role of Pain Management in Spine Care
Dr. Scott Martin: 5 Challenges Facing Spine Pain Management
1. Educate your patient about back pain. Many people who arrive with spine pain are physically fit, but they are still experiencing back pain because they don't know how to condition their spines. "People are staying health and active but sometimes weekend warriors tend to overdo it," says Eli Finkelstein, MD, physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Resurgens Orthopaedics in Cumming and Roswell, Ga. If this is the case, provide the patient with tips about conditioning their spine and back for physical activity and enable the patient to maximize flexibility and core strength. Taking time to sit down and educate your patients about their specific condition will help them understand how they can heal and prevent future injury. 2. A common source of spine problems unknown to patients is genetics. "Genetics play a big role and patients do not realize it," says Dr. Finkelstein. Genes can make people more susceptible to spine disease and injury. When Patients have a history of back problems taking a more active approach to preventing disease and injury is important. This might mean patients needs to change their daily routine or work with a physiatrist or interventional spine specialist to develop a treatment protocol that is specific to their needs.
Patients may also benefit from a combination of medications, physical therapy, imaging studies and injections. I. most circumstances, a combination of these proposed treatments will suffice. On occasion, surgery may be warranted. The responsibility falls on the physician to appropriately evaluate the source for spine pain and determine their primary "pain generator." This will help streamline their care and provide the best possible solution for healing, restoration of functional activity and return to their regular lifestyle. Performing unnecessary or unhelpful procedures or surgery wastes precious healthcare dollars. "I feel it is vital for the physician to set realistic expectations for each individual patient for their recovery," he says.
3. Know your insurance providers and their protocols. Pain management physicians and interventionalists often encounter issues as they work with insurance companies to approve services for their patients. "Due to a lack of evidence-based study results, insurance companies deny pain management procedures for patients because they do not find them to be credible solutions for treating back pain," says Dr. Finkelstein. In addition, procedures are often denied as the treating physician may have to steer away from specific clinical pathway or algorithm dictated by the insurance company. It is extremely important for treating physicians to be verbal and educate insurance companies and provide that patient's need to be treated as individuals, and that on occasion not every patient care clearly follow or fit a specific clinical care pathway. There needs to be room for exceptions to the rule to provide patients with their best potential treatment solution to maximize outcomes.
4. Engage in peer and literature reviews to ensure quality of care. While the majority of pain management physicians are responsible about their practice, it is important for colleagues to ensure that pain management physicians are following the standard of care. If unqualified physicians perform spine interventions with bad outcomes, it reflects poorly on spine pain management as a legitimate means of treating pain. This can also be harmful in advancing future treatment needs in a field of medicine that is influenced by evidence-based outcomes. The responsibility falls upon physicians to review current literature ad review their peers to make sure injections and interventions are being done for the right reasons.
5. Evidence-based medicine cannot always be black and white. A great deal of attention is always focused on evidence-based medicine. Many evidence-based studies are inconclusive about the efficacy of interventional pain management for the spine. These results can be problematic for physicians and insurance companies as they design treatment protocols and algorithms for patient care. Although it is better research and studies that will advance us in the future, pain management physicians are also accountable to the individual patient who looks to them for answers.
A specific intervention or treatment might not be a cure, but it can give patients back their function and dignity so they can have a better quality of life. "You are always going to look towards evidence-based and controlled studies as a guideline, but you can't just look at the black-and-white," says Dr. Finkelstein. "You have to understand the individual patient and provide them their best options for complete recovery and healing."
Learn more about Dr. Eli Finkelstein.
Related Articles to Spine Pain Management:
10 Biggest Trends in Spine Pain Management
5 Points on the Role of Pain Management in Spine Care
Dr. Scott Martin: 5 Challenges Facing Spine Pain Management