|
In 2002 the JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) responded to public distress over poor pain management in medical settings by establishing a new patient right: “Patients have the right to appropriate assessment and management of pain.” Despite this new standard, just about everyone has some anxiety about suffering from pain as the result of a health problem. Many of us have had past experiences in which our pain was not adequately managed. The medical staff of Personal Physician Group is expert in pain control, and dedicated to ensuring our patients remain comfortable. All pain can be controlled with adequate amounts of the right medications; the challenge is to manage the sedation and other side effects of many pain medications. Two of our physicians have worked as cancer pain specialists at MD Anderson Cancer Center; we can handle even the most difficult pain management problems. A special challenge in pain management is controlling pain in people with current or previous problems with substance abuse. Often we find these patients are so afraid of relapse that they do not receive adequate pain relief for painful conditions such as surgery. ALL people deserve pain relief; our doctors are experienced in the necessary modifications to the usual pain protocols which persons with this medical history require. In addition to using pain medications, we collaborate with the patient to select and utilize a variety of physical modalities, trans-cutaneous electrical stimulation, anodyne, acupuncture and hypnosis to facilitate pain relief.
|
