PtProtect® – Resources

Tools for Implementing Pain Management Testing in Your Practice

How to Incorporate Pain Management Testing into Your Practice

A step-by-step overview of how to implement pain management testing in your practice.

Urine Drug Testing Frequency Guidelines

How often should you test your patients? This chart offers guidance for this concern. Source: 2010 Agency Medical Director's Group Guideline on Opioid Dosing for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain.

Why Does Random Matter?

This article provides insight on why baseline testing and random testing of your pain patient population is important. Courtesy of the American Pain Foundation.

Understand how to manage pain

Promoting Pain Relief and Preventing Abuse of Pain Medications: A Critical Balancing Act www.ampainsoc.org/advocacy/pdf/consensus_1.pdf

Assess the patient's pain

Patient Tools

Pain Resource Guide

The Pain Resource Guide is an easy-to-use tool to help patients maintain a record of their pain and communicate their experiences. It's an extremely useful tool when discussing levels of pain, response to treatment and improvements in functioning and side effects. Courtesy of the American Pain Foundation.

Pain Log

This pain log is a valuable resource used to communicate your level of pain to your doctor. This tool focuses on the impact that pain has in multiple dimensions of a patient's life - from mood to appetite to side effects. Courtesy of the American Pain Foundation.

Wallet Medication Card

This wallet card provides one place to list all of your medications. Show this medication card to any health care provider who might prescribe medications to you. This tool promotes communication between you and your health care providers to avoid dangerous medication combinations. Courtesy of the American Pain Foundation.

Patient Pain Assessments

This pain assessment tool facilitates the communication of pain severity especially in older patients and those with diminished cognitive capacity and difficulty with abstract thinking. Courtesy of painknowledge.org.

A visual analog scale to assess pain in pediatric patients.

WHO has developed a three-step "ladder" for cancer pain relief.

Talk with the patient - Patient Risk Assessments

• CAGE Questionnaire

  Used in Identifying Alcoholism.

• Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM)

  Helps clinicians identify whether a patient, currently on long-term opioid therapy, may be exhibiting aberrant behaviors associated with misuse of opioid medications. (Free Registration Required)

• ORT Overview | Opioid Risk Tool

  A brief, easy-to-use screening tool, which is administered during the initial clinical visit, enables the physician to determine a patient’s potential risk for developing aberrant behaviors when prescribed opioids for chronic pain. Courtesy of painknowledge.org.

• Screener & Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain (SOAPP)

  A brief paper and pencil tool to facilitate assessment and planning for chronic pain patients being considered for long-term opioid treatment. (Free Registration Required)

• Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

  A brief questionnaire to assess the patient for depression. Courtesy of Pfizer.

• Opioid Facts

  Printable patient-education handout. Courtesy of painknowledge.org.

• Pain Facts

  Printable patient-education handout. Courtesy of painknowledge.org.

Keep a current chart - Document Patient's Progress

• Informed Consent

  This form verifies that the patient understands the risks and benefits of using opioids. Your state may require an Informed Consent form to be signed by the patient for whom opioid medications are being considered. Please check with your state regulatory agency. Courtesy of painknowledge.org.

• Opioid Agreement Template

  Patient agreements for chronic opioid treatment establish trust and accountability; health care providers may wish to include a copy in their patient's records. This patient agreement template can be customized to your practice.

• Medication Flow Chart

  Used to keep track of a patient's prescribed medications. Courtesy of painknowledge.org.

• Patient Reassessment Opioid Analgesic 4-A’s+ Chart Note

  The 4-A's+ Chart Note is a brief, easy-to-use tool to document a patient's ongoing opioid treatment plan. Courtesy of painknowledge.org.

• Exit strategy guide

  If the pain management plan for a patient must be discontinued, an exit strategy should be established. Courtesy of painknowledge.org.

New Washington State Pain Rules Information

Final Rules: Washington Medical Quality Assurance Commission

New rules related to chronic non-cancer pain management were adopted in Washington State as of January 2, 2012. These new rules relate to dosing criteria and guidance on: seeking consultations, tracking progress and tracking the use of opioids. Attached is the full text of the Washington State rules for medical doctors and physician’s assistants at:
www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/Professions/PainManagement/files/mdpapainmgmt.pdf

Adopted rules for other specialties can be found at:
www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/Professions/PainManagement/meetings.htm

Overview of Washington State Pain Rules

A brief overview of the Washington state pain rules can be found in the attached Physician Alert, released December 15, 2011 by PeaceHealth Laboratories:
Washington Activates New Rules for Pain Management January 2, 2012

Guideline for Providers Treating Patients with Chronic Non-Cancer Pain

Agency Medical Directors’ Group Guideline on Opioid Dosing for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain: 2010 Update. The attached guideline was published as a resource for primary care providers treating patients with chronic non-cancer pain:
www.agencymeddirectors.wa.gov/Files/OpioidGdline.pdf

Dosing Calculator

The Agency Medical Directors’ Group offers this tool to assist providers in assessing their patient’s dosage in morphine equivalents per day:
www.agencymeddirectors.wa.gov/Files/DosingCalc.xls

Free Opioid Dosing Guideline and DOH Pain Management Rules Online CME Activity

The Medical Quality Assurance Commission, in consultation with the Department of Health and the Agency Medical Directors’ Group, presents a FREE CME activity that offers four (4) hours of: Category 1 Credits™, or Washington Board of Pharmacy approved Continuing Education (C.E.) Credit(s). For more information visit:
www.agencymeddirectors.wa.gov/opioiddosing.asp#CME

Visit Our Pain Management Page for Information On How To Protect Your Practice