Lack of optimal pain care delivery system costs more than $100 billion each year

Oct 27 2009

A new Pain Medicine Position Paper published by leaders of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), reveals businesses lose $61 billion annually due to ineffective pain care and the lack of optimal pain care delivery. Leaders from the organization are now implementing and teaching a new, "population-based" approach to delivering care with the goal of alleviating pain so patients can get on with their lives.

AAPMedicine's President Rollin M. Gallagher, MD MPH comments, "Pain affects everyone, and for many millions, pain becomes chronic, a scourge that affects every part of their lives--their work, their hobbies, their friendships, their families, their sex, their fun, their finances, their mood, and even their fundamental sense of identity, who they are. According to the National Institutes of Health, pain is one of our most important national health problems, costing the American public more than $100 billion each year in health care, compensation and litigation. The AAPMedicine's Position Paper offers solutions that will fundamentally change the way pain is approached in the health care system. The Paper proposes a population-based approach to pain management that will both improve the competency of the health care system to manage pain for the millions of patients suffering needlessly in hospitals with acute pain and on into their lives with chronic pain, and will also reduce the cost of pain to our society. People will be able to work who couldn't work before. People who work will work longer, better and more productively. People with terminal cancer will die in comfort, preserving their personal dignity and mitigating the emotional suffering of their families. The Proposal is consistent with the medical home approach being fostered as a solution to the problems besetting our health care system, an approach that emphasizes patient responsibility, early effective treatment, and when pain becomes chronic, competent longitudinal treatment, what we call 'chronic illness management'."

A population-based approach to pain includes stepped care that is designed to deliver timely access to levels of care that are needed to prevent chronic pain from beginning, or when pain persists, minimizing morbidity through effective care:

Step One: Prevention of disease or injury with the use of evidence-based self-care, such as diet, exercise, ergonomics (alteration of work activities) or cessation of smoking and other drug abuse to reduce the risk of injury or disease.

Step Two: If self-care is not working, patient will then visit their primary care physicians for evaluation and management using evidence-based algorithms.

Step Three: If disabling pain persists, the patient will be referred to a pain medicine specialist who will collaborate with a team of providers, including, nurse case managers, psychologists and physical therapists.

Step Four: If the patient remains in disabling pain, he or she will be referred to a pain medicine specialist within a subspecialty of care.

Currently there is no unified organizational model of pain medicine, which has led to ineffective and fragmented pain care with poor outcomes and higher costs than necessary. This fragmentation threatens patient safety and causes the passing of a patient from doctor to doctor for a diagnosis and pain treatment, even though that doctor may have had minimal or even no specific training in chronic pain management. The Academy believes one of the solutions to this complex problem is the establishment of Pain Medicine as a recognized primary medical specialty. This recognition would allow Pain Medicine's specialized knowledge, education, training, and multidisciplinary approach to provide standardized training for all physicians and integrated and comprehensive pain care to millions of Americans suffering with acute, cancer and chronic pain.

One segment of society that has carried the burden of an ineffective pain care delivery system is the business community. It is estimated to cost $61.2 billion annually in lost productive time. The majority of this cost (76.6%) is attributed to reduced performance while at work, not work absence. During the course of two weeks, 13 percent of the total workforce experienced a loss in productive time due to a common pain condition. An estimated 3.8 billion hours of work are also lost annually due to pain. For additional statistics on the cost of pain care to businesses visit www.painmed.org.

As the largest purchasers of healthcare, businesses have much to lose from ineffective pain treatment of their employees. Finding a unified approach to pain medicine is critical. Back pain alone cost businesses $19.8 billion in lost productive time, with almost three-quarters of the cost attributed to complications of back pain from the lack of proper care.

"The ineffective treatment of pain results in an escalating cascade of health care issues. Acute pain that is not treated adequately and promptly results in persistent pain that eventually causes irreversible changes in the brain and spinal cord. This is referred to as neuropathic pain, a neurobiological disorder that is difficult to diagnose and manage. Persistent pain of this nature often results in further bio-psycho-social changes, which in turn result in further pain and increasing disability. This vicious cycle transforms a human being into a patient who unwittingly becomes a burden to himself, his family and society at large. The emotional, societal and financial costs are immeasurable," according to AAPMedicine's Executive Medical Director, Philipp M. Lippe.

Currently there are not enough pain medicine specialists to treat back pain and other pain conditions, and the system for training physicians in the discipline of pain medicine remains insufficient. The Academy's solution calls for better residency training programs in pain medicine, which will lead to better and more cost-effective pain care.

Recognizing pain medicine as a primary medical specialty would also increase federal funding into pain research. As the population ages, there will be an increased need for physicians who have both specific expertise in pain medicine and broader training in the needs of an aging population. An increase in federal funding for pain research is critical to keep pace with the growing problem of pain in America.

Taking these steps will also improve health care coverage for pain care. Insurance companies often refuse to cover pain-relieving treatments, and access to pain rehabilitation is non-existent in many parts of the country. The Veteran's Affairs' medical system has recognized the need for change in pain care and now requires VA health care institutions to provide organized pain assessment and management. Developing an optimal system of pain care delivery would not only address better healthcare for the millions of Americans in daily pain, but its benefits would filter down to both businesses and society. Safe, effective and affordable pain treatment is possible, and the benefits are immeasurable. Click here to view the Pain Medicine Position Paper.

AAPMedicine's leaders are available for comment through the American Academy of Pain Medicine by contacting Sue Thompson at 847 375 3686.

SOURCE American Academy of Pain Medicine