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Nicholson: Local Facility Model for VA and Rest
of Nation - August 22, 2007
WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim
Nicholson today praised the Department of
Veterans Affairs’ (VA) acclaimed Chronic Pain
Rehabilitation Program at the James A. Haley
Veterans' Hospital as a shining example of VA's
world-class health care. "The program at the
Tampa VA Medical Center is the largest and most
comprehensive pain center in the VA system,”
Nicholson said. “We’re meeting the challenges of
treating wounded service members returning from
combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, while providing
top-notch care to older veterans with chronic
medical problems.”
Nicholson noted the Tampa pain program was one
of six facilities – and the only VA facility --
earlier this year to receive the American Pain
Society's first “Clinical Centers of Excellence
in Pain Management Awards,” honoring the
nation’s outstanding pain care centers. The
Society recognized programs that help pain
patients enhance overall functionality and
quality of life through integrated care across
medical disciplines. Patients in the VA pain
program have, on average, a 50 percent reduction
in pain during treatment. More than half of
polytrauma patients leave the facility free of
prescribed pain medications, while others have
substantially reduced dosages.
The Tampa VA Medical Center hosts one of VA's
major polytrauma centers that receive the most
severely wounded veterans of combat in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Pain management for these patients
is particularly challenging because many have
cognitive impairment and multiple complex
injuries. Patients often arrive on high doses of
narcotics, which can interfere with their
rehabilitation. In its recognizing the Tampa
center, the American Pain Society highlighted
programs that reach beyond drugs to other
approaches such as cognitive behavioral and
physical therapy to treat the whole person, not
just the pain. According to the Society, the
Tampa facility had demonstrated that integrated,
multidisciplinary pain care yields the best
medical, psychological and social outcomes.
The Tampa pain center's core team includes
doctors and nurses from a variety of
disciplines, pain psychologists, a registered
dietician, rehabilitation therapists and a
social worker, with occasional assistance from a
chiropractor, acupuncturist and
pharmacist. During 17 years, Tampa's Chronic
Pain Rehabilitation Program has developed
national models for managing chronic pain. The
facility has devised a pain assessment
questionnaire that is used by more than 800
clinicians and researchers in 36 countries. |
