Comprehensive pain management clinics are very different from pill mills, which have been linked to the nationwide epidemic of prescription pain medication abuse. "Pill mills market themselves as 'pain clinics' but operate in a manner far different from the balanced approach of comprehensive pain clinics such as ours," says John Bookmyer, CEO of the Pain Management Group, based in Findlay, Ohio, which develops and operates comprehensive pain clinics in partnership with hospitals.
Here are six ways that comprehensive pain management clinics, based on the PMG approach, differ from pill mills.
1. Board-certified pain physicians. A comprehensive pain management clinic uses physicians board-certified in pain management, who have also completed a fellowship in pain management. These fellowships provide one to two years of extensive training for physicians who already have specialty training in anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology or psychiatry. Pill mills, on the other hand, tend to use physicians without specific pain management training.
2. More services than writing prescriptions. Fellowship-trained pain management physicians provide a combination of prescriptive and interventional services for both acute and chronic care. In contrast to the many resources that comprehensive pain management clinics have, pill mill physicians tend to only write prescriptions for their patients.
3. Patients make an appointment. At a comprehensive pain management clinic, patients are usually required to make an appointment and typically have a referral from their primary care physician. At pill mills, walk-ins are the predominant method of intake. Referrals are not required and little or no examination or work-up is done.
4. Mostly insured patients. Patients in comprehensive pain treatment clinics tend to have insurance and work within the requirements of the health insurance system, while pill mills encourage patients to work outside of insurance program if they have insurance and pay out of pocket.
5. Use of narcotic agreements. Practices like those managed by PMG require patients to sign narcotic agreements that outline the rules of receiving medications, if necessary, and are closely enforced. These agreements also call for patients who misuse medications or violate the agreement to be dropped from the practice. They also enforce mandatory randomized drug screening and reporting to pharmacies. Pill mills may not require such agreements.
6. Involvement in the community. Physicians in pill mills are often isolated from the medical community, while comprehensive pain physicians often interact with the community, such as by promoting wellness through educational presentations.
Learn more about Pain Management Group.
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