The medical practice of pain management can be very satisfying. Patients come to pain management specialists for a wide variety of treatments, seeking relief for often chronic, debilitating, and acute pain. According to WebMD, over 100 million people in the United States live with chronic pain. The cause of pain could be due to medical or skeletal issues, occupational or automotive accidents, and treatment for conditions such as cancer or multiple sclerosis.
Whatever the cause, living with chronic pain makes it difficult to perform life’s daily tasks, concentrate or focus, sleep, and have a high quality of life with family and friends. Instead, energy levels become sapped in searching for methods to relieve pain. Most patients are referred to pain management practice by their primary physician to find some form of relief.
Modern pain management clinics offer an interdisciplinary approach to pain management that looks at the whole person and attempts to control pain sufficiently enough to enable a return to ordinary activities of daily living. The holistic approach may include:
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Nutritional and lifestyle management
- Nerve blockers and steroid injections
- Chiropractic manipulations
- Pain medications
- Some may also include complementary therapies such as acupuncture, biofeedback, massage, and meditation to alleviate pain.
The goal is to manage the chronic pain sufficiently, so the patient can resume activity and achieve maximum enjoyment of life, as far as the specific cause of pain will permit. A pain management provider needs to work with patients for long periods of time, carefully controlling and documenting each aspect of the treatment plan. A specially designed Pain management EHR can help to manage these complex tasks to offer quality, safe care to patients.
Proper Pain Management Clinic Software Makes the Difference
With the right clinical support tools, a pain management practice can work efficiently and effectively to track information, minimize risks, and maximize the quality of its decision-making.
Top tips for choosing a pain management EHR include:
- Flexible EHR Template: The EHR template is at the core of everything a pain management provider does. During the visit, a customized template allows the user to follow standardized documentation requirements such as causation, frequency, and duration of pain, alleviating and aggravating factors, previously tried treatments, and options and explanation of the treatment plan to patients. Customizable templates can document any injections and procedures for future reference.
- E-Prescription Capabilities: Although not the preferred method of alleviating pain, prescriptions can play a role in pain management treatment. The provider must carefully control all pain medications prescribed and keep an eye out for possible addictive behaviors.
- Telemedicine: Integration with telemedicine has become a necessary part of pain management in a COVID-driven society. Providers need to keep in touch with patients to determine whether pain has increased or decreased during periods of isolation, for appropriate treatment recommendation.
- Pain Screening Tools: Screening tools help in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of pain. Providers complete the health details and any history of present illness during an examination, or it’s filled by the patient prior to the appointment. These are automatically scored and added to the patient’s chart. Pain screening tools might include opioid risk assessment, pain index, neck pain and disability index and depression screening.
- Easy-to-Use: To be a useful tool, the pain management EHR must be easy and intuitive to use. When every “click” is critical, the need to search among screens for information can be counter-productive. A customized workflow built specific to the logged-in user and the type of visit, so the screen navigation proceeds accordingly. Detailed anatomical diagrams aid in the annotation of pain, procedures, and injection sites for future reference.
- Interoperability: As many cases involve Chronic Care Management, the pain management clinic will often need to communicate efficiently with other medical providers, such as the referring physician, imaging facilities, and labs. The EHR should facilitate the ability to communicate seamlessly with other providers via fax, secure email, or a provider portal. Providers at the pain management practice should receive notification of key events and incoming items such as referrals, lab results, and messages. These messages are routed to several users to avoid missing something urgent or important.
- Health Reminders and Follow-Up Notifications: Pain management is usually a long-term process requiring full patient involvement and participation. Those under certain pain management protocols need to receive treatment on a regular basis. Failure to follow directions, take medications, obtain outside tests, or schedule follow-up appointments can reduce the effectiveness of the treatment plan. The practice may also lose revenue from missed appointments. The EHR should allow for automated appointment reminders and confirmations and include a Patient Portal for greater patient engagement. If an appointment is not scheduled within the timeframe set in the previous appointment, the patient’s name appears on a follow-up list.
Key Takeaway for Pain Management EHR Systems
Based on years of development and feedback, PrognoCIS has developed an innovative pain management software that creates an unparalleled workflow and user experience. Our pain management library contains extensive EHR template options for the evaluation and treatment of common complaints and conditions. The content focused on all aspects of pain management such as medication management, interventional procedures, as well as holistic and integrative treatment modalities.
With a reliable support team that provides ongoing training and educational resources, PrognoCIS ensures practices are making the most of their EHR. Our goal is to reduce your administrative tasks, so you can focus on what you do best, help manage patient pain.
PrognoCIS by Bizmatics delivers a customizable, tailor-made workflow with rich and specialty-specific content for medical clinics. Our cloud-based EHR streamlines workflows through a platform of modules and features that include Practice Management, Medical Billing, Telemedicine, Patient Portal, and e-prescription.
