In the midst of tighter state and federal regulations on opioids, it is increasingly difficult for physicians to accurately assess a patient's condition in the time allotted, according to a physician editorial in The Huffington Post.
"In a nutshell, a doctor who sees a patient with a pain problem likely only has about 15 minutes scheduled to try to understand what is important about that patient's situation (and I mean medically but also psychologically and socially), provide education, review diagnostic test results, and recommend some type of treatment that will have impact," wrote Peter Abaci, MD, a chronic pain specialist.
But patients should be able to view pain management clinics as a source of overcoming what ails them rather than a source for prescription painkillers, he said. "I think we can see that the traditional medical office setting that leads to more tests, invasive treatments and prescriptions for strong painkillers is not working and may be creating more problems than it is solving," he wrote. "In fact, I discovered years ago that my most successful patients are generally the least dependent on pills, and for that matter, the least dependent on me."
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"In a nutshell, a doctor who sees a patient with a pain problem likely only has about 15 minutes scheduled to try to understand what is important about that patient's situation (and I mean medically but also psychologically and socially), provide education, review diagnostic test results, and recommend some type of treatment that will have impact," wrote Peter Abaci, MD, a chronic pain specialist.
But patients should be able to view pain management clinics as a source of overcoming what ails them rather than a source for prescription painkillers, he said. "I think we can see that the traditional medical office setting that leads to more tests, invasive treatments and prescriptions for strong painkillers is not working and may be creating more problems than it is solving," he wrote. "In fact, I discovered years ago that my most successful patients are generally the least dependent on pills, and for that matter, the least dependent on me."
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