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Patients are seen at the Sparrow Pain Management Center by referral only. Referrals are initiated by the patient's physician, and forwarded to the Pain Management Center for review.
The nurse case manager then contacts the patient for a telephone interview. Details about the pain complaint, prior treatments and the impact of the pain on the individual's life and functioning are obtained. Insurance information is also collected at this time. The Pain Management Center participates with most insurance providers. Exceptions can be discussed during the telephone interview. Patients are asked to contact previous care providers for records relating to the pain complaint, including reports of diagnostic tests (x-rays, MRIs, CT scans, etc.), operative reports, office notes detailing previous treatments, and records from other pain management centers, if applicable.
Once the telephone interview process is completed and records are received, the case goes to case review. One of the physicians, pain psychologists, and the case manager will review each case and develop an intake plan. This may include medical or psychological evaluations. The patient is then scheduled for an intake appointment based on the urgency of the case (emergent, semi-emergent, or routine). Often patients will be scheduled for initial evaluation with the pain psychologists, as well as medical staff, as pain is a multifaceted problem, and must be managed by the coordinated application of multi-disciplinary treatment modalities. All new patients are evaluated by one of the physicians during the initial medical appointment. A treatment plan is then developed, and appointments scheduled for planned procedures or follow-up of treatments. Occasionally nerve block procedures will be done on the first visit. If any procedures will be planned for the first visit, the plan will be discussed thoroughly by the case manager during the telephone interview process.
Every effort is made to expedite the scheduling of patients with acute pain, or with emergency pain syndromes, such as shingles or RSD. Scheduling times may vary, but the goal is to see patients with acute pain within three business days and those with chronic pain within three weeks.
Treatment plans are reviewed at bimonthly case conferences. The case conference allows the multidisciplinary team, including medical, nursing, psychology and rehabilitation providers, to communicate directly with each other regarding the patient's care. Other physicians or case managers involved in the patient's care may also be invited to participate in the case conference.
Patients must have a primary physician to be treated at the Pain Management Center. This could be a family physician,
internal medicine specialist or gynecologist, and is the healthcare provider who coordinates the patient's overall medical care. The Pain
Management Center offers specialty care, and once the patient has completed a course of treatment, in most cases they are discharged to the
care of their primary care provider. At that time, the primary care provider usually assumes the prescription of medications.
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