Beverly Hospital at Danvers (Mass.) Pain Management Center is launching a new integrated care model that will combine traditional pain medication and injection services with behavioral health, physical and integrative medicine treatments.
"We have created this multi-specialty center so that our patients have the very best treatment options, since we now know that pain patients do best when treated in this kind of comprehensive treatment environment," said Kenneth Branton, MD, medical director of the Pain Center. "A single disciplinary view often does not provide what the pain patient requires to improve their function and to decrease their pain."
Dr. Branton discusses five aspects of establishing the integrative pain program.
1. The center provides a more convenient location for patients. A primary factor in establishing the pain program centered on its location in Danvers, a town located a half-hour drive north of Boston. "We wanted to have such a pain center on the North Shore where patients would not have to travel to Boston to obtain this high level of comprehensive care," says Dr. Branton. The center's patients draw from all socioeconomic backgrounds with diverse pain management needs, which underscores the needs for a multidisciplinary and equally diverse approach to addressing pain.
2. Every patient receives a personalized care plan. To accurately assess pain treatment needs, all patients receive a consultation with one of the center's pain physicians. This includes a physical exam, a record of past medical history and a review of supporting data before a personalized treatment plan is recommended, Dr. Branton says. The plan may then include a combination of physical therapy, injection treatments, psychological counseling, surgical referral and medication recommendations.
"As a team, we want to make sure we are offering a treatment plan that will have the greatest positive impact on the patient," he says.
3. Patients will be treated by a multidisciplinary team. To accommodate a diverse patient market and personalized care plans among those patients, the center staffs a multidisciplinary team. In addition to interventional pain and psychiatry physicians, he team consists of:
4. Putting together the best mix of professionals was the greatest challenge. The center's multidisciplinary pain management approach required searching for and staffing a diverse set of specialists, including hospital managers, physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and complimentary service providers such as Reiki, massage, acupuncture and behavioral health professionals. "Once this was achieved, everything else tended to fall into place," says Dr. Branton. "We wanted to make sure that we had assembled the best possible team to help meet the needs of the patients and families we are privileged to serve."
5. Constant feedback helps the center improve. The pain management center will rely on a mix of positive community feedback and collaborative improvement among staff members to thrive. "The best advertisement is word of mouth, and this is achieved by ensuring the best patient experience possible," says Dr. Branton.
The pain center is collaborating with strategic healthcare consulting firm Press-Gainey to receive additional feedback needed to continually improve the patient experience, he adds. "Moreover, we continually meet with our referring physician and providers to obtain feedback so that we can improve our service model. We are not a complacent group. We continue to look for the best possible providers to help elevate our pain management center."
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"We have created this multi-specialty center so that our patients have the very best treatment options, since we now know that pain patients do best when treated in this kind of comprehensive treatment environment," said Kenneth Branton, MD, medical director of the Pain Center. "A single disciplinary view often does not provide what the pain patient requires to improve their function and to decrease their pain."
Dr. Branton discusses five aspects of establishing the integrative pain program.
1. The center provides a more convenient location for patients. A primary factor in establishing the pain program centered on its location in Danvers, a town located a half-hour drive north of Boston. "We wanted to have such a pain center on the North Shore where patients would not have to travel to Boston to obtain this high level of comprehensive care," says Dr. Branton. The center's patients draw from all socioeconomic backgrounds with diverse pain management needs, which underscores the needs for a multidisciplinary and equally diverse approach to addressing pain.
2. Every patient receives a personalized care plan. To accurately assess pain treatment needs, all patients receive a consultation with one of the center's pain physicians. This includes a physical exam, a record of past medical history and a review of supporting data before a personalized treatment plan is recommended, Dr. Branton says. The plan may then include a combination of physical therapy, injection treatments, psychological counseling, surgical referral and medication recommendations.
"As a team, we want to make sure we are offering a treatment plan that will have the greatest positive impact on the patient," he says.
3. Patients will be treated by a multidisciplinary team. To accommodate a diverse patient market and personalized care plans among those patients, the center staffs a multidisciplinary team. In addition to interventional pain and psychiatry physicians, he team consists of:
- Elise Campagnolo, MD, a psychiatrist and addiction specialist
- George Bielin, MD, a psychologist who facilitates chronic pain support therapy groups
- Registered nurses who are in the process of becoming board certified in pain
- Amber Dewey, NP, who coordinates the care of chronic pain patients on pharmacologic therapy and care with behavior health providers
4. Putting together the best mix of professionals was the greatest challenge. The center's multidisciplinary pain management approach required searching for and staffing a diverse set of specialists, including hospital managers, physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and complimentary service providers such as Reiki, massage, acupuncture and behavioral health professionals. "Once this was achieved, everything else tended to fall into place," says Dr. Branton. "We wanted to make sure that we had assembled the best possible team to help meet the needs of the patients and families we are privileged to serve."
5. Constant feedback helps the center improve. The pain management center will rely on a mix of positive community feedback and collaborative improvement among staff members to thrive. "The best advertisement is word of mouth, and this is achieved by ensuring the best patient experience possible," says Dr. Branton.
The pain center is collaborating with strategic healthcare consulting firm Press-Gainey to receive additional feedback needed to continually improve the patient experience, he adds. "Moreover, we continually meet with our referring physician and providers to obtain feedback so that we can improve our service model. We are not a complacent group. We continue to look for the best possible providers to help elevate our pain management center."
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