Chronic Pain in the Emergency Department: A Pilot Interdisciplinary Program Demonstrates Improvements in Disability, Psychosocial Function, and Healthcare Utilization.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To evaluate the feasibility of an individualized interdisciplinary chronic pain care plan as an intervention to reduce emergency department (ED) visits and improve clinical outcomes among patients who frequented the ED with concerns related to chronic pain.

Methods

A prospective cohort design was used in an urban tertiary care hospital. As a pilot program, fourteen patients with chronic pain who frequented the ED (i.e., >12 ED visits within the last year, of which ≥50% were for chronic pain) received a rapid interdisciplinary assessment and individualized care plan that was uploaded to an electronic medical record system (EMR) accessible to the ED and patient's primary care provider. Patients were assessed at baseline and every three months over a 12-month period.

SUBMITTER: Rash JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5829435 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature