Treating Pain in Today’s World: Avoiding the New Pitfalls

This is part one in a series of prescription drug abuse CME seminars jointly sponsored by Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. and OCMA

STATEMENT OF NEEDS ASSESSMENT:

Identifying needs: Chronic pain affects approximately 100 million people in the U.S., according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, and one of the most common reasons for patients to seek medical care. Physicians are in a key position to balance the benefits and risks of opioid therapy. However, they struggle with the need to assist patients who require management of chronic pain while confronting the risks associated with opioid prescribing. With the reclassification of Hydrocodone as an A II drug, and the new drug monitoring programs and guidelines for prescribing or refilling Opioids, physicians are reticent about continuing to treat patients with intermittent and chronic pain.

Maintaining the trust inherent in a physician-patient relationship is a high priority for physicians, as is their desire to implement safety systems to insure patient well-being. They frequently express concern about how their prescription habits will be viewed and request guidelines for risk management in this area. A CME program that provides a historical backdrop for opioid use and current regulations, an understanding of the multidiscipline approach to treating pain and updated guidelines will increase the physician's skill and comfort level when prescribing opioids.

The CAP Mission Statement Supports this CME Activity:
The establishment and maintenance of good physician-patient relationships is the foundation for the content of all CAP education programs. Beyond that, the CME program content focuses on improving the quality of patient care and patient safety. This proposed CME program will assist physicians by identifying and implementing good safety systems and facilitating physician-patient communication.

Proposed Activity/Educational Intervention:
"Treating Pain in Today’s World: Avoiding the New Pitfalls" is a live activity that addresses knowledge gaps identified above. Specifically this activity will provide physicians with an understanding of the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to opioid treatment of patients. The program encompasses 2.0 hours of education and is planned and implemented in accordance with IMQ CME Accreditation program objectives.

Learning Objectives: After attending “Treating Pain in Today’s World: Avoiding the New Pitfalls”, physician participants will be able to:

• Understand the law and new regulations that govern the use of opioids to control pain
• Understand the multi-discipline methods for controlling pain
• Describe appropriate assessment, monitoring and documentation strategies to support opioid prescribing
• Learn how to evaluate the benefits of prescriptive opioids against the potential risks
• Utilize PDMP/CURES as a tool to discover questionable prescription opioid activity

Proposed Faculty: Standiford Helm II, MD, Medical Director, The Helm Center for Pain Management