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APS Press Room

News from the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society

American Pain Society Honors Clinical Centers of Excellence in Pain Management Award Recipients

Six Awardees Honored for Achievement in Multidisciplinary Pain Care Include Specialty Programs in Cancer Pain and Pediatrics

BALTIMORE, MD, May 6, 2010 — The American Pain Society (APS), www.ampainsoc.org, today honored the recipients of its fourth annual Clinical Centers of Excellence in Pain Management Awards recognizing the nation’s outstanding pain care centers. Six multidisciplinary pain programs were feted. They are:

University-based Programs
Children’s Hospital Boston, Pain Treatment Center
University of California San Diego Center for Pain Medicine
University of Washington Division of Pain Medicine
University of California Davis Center for Pain Medicine

Community-based Programs
Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute, Ann Arbor
Integrative Pain Center of Arizona, Tucson

Honorable Mention
Project Echo Chronic Pain and Headache Tele-clinic, Albuquerque

APS established the program in 2006 to build awareness about progressive teams of health professionals who address critical, sometimes unmet, needs in pain management within their communities. Multidisciplinary programs available in the U.S. offering direct patient care in pain management are eligible to apply. Detailed award applications were judged by a panel of prominent pain management experts. Award recipients were honored at a reception during the APS Annual Scientific Conference.

“The Clinical Centers of Excellence Awards again drew applicants who had remarkable achievements in their pain management practices, providing relief and restoring everyday function to those who lives are burdened with persistent pain,” said APS President Charles J. Inturrisi, PhD, professor of pharmacology at New York’s Weill Cornell Medical Center.

“The quality of the submitted programs was superb and, as a pain-care researcher and teacher, I’m gratified to see such inspiring outcomes from our colleagues in multidisciplinary pain care teams throughout the country.”

Inturrisi added that the Clinical Centers of Excellence Awards also support the ongoing advocacy mission of APS. “These awards highlight the benefits of the multidisciplinary approach to pain management for providing optimal care for those with myriad pain conditions,” he said. A recurring quality of leading pain programs, Inturrisi noted, is success in helping patients enhance overall function and quality of life. “Combining cognitive-behavioral and physical therapies with medications and other modalities is the major advantage of the multidisciplinary approach -- treat the whole person, not just the pain.”

Among the achievements of the organizations recognized by APS are:

• A multidisciplinary headache program with pediatric neurologists, psychologists, nurses and physical therapists. The program conducted the first randomized clinical trials for patient-controlled analgesia and for methadone in children. It also has the only accredited pain medicine fellowship program in the U.S. with specific emphasis on pediatric pain. (Children’s Hospital Boston)
• An interdisciplinary program with an innovative regional anesthesia service that provides both neural-axial and continuous peripheral catheters for both post-operative pain and chronic pain interventions. These techniques have reduced hospital stays and opioid use. It is the only pain clinic in California’s La Jolla valley that treats indigent patients and also conducts multidisciplinary rounds VA to increase outreach efforts. (University of California San Diego Center for Pain Medicine)
• The birthplace of modern pain medicine pain with world leaders in pain management provides both inpatient and outpatient services in nine programs and five hospitals in the state. Pain care teams provide medical evaluation with an emphasis on diagnosis, goal setting and follow-up in accordance with its mission statement “Predict, diagnose, and prevent pain from becoming a disabling disease.” (University of Washington Division of Pain Medicine).
• A pain center that treats pain through the life continuum – from pediatrics to geriatrics. Clinicians are certified pain specialists but represent nursing, pediatric pain, internal medicine, pharmacology, bioethics and more. The center provides free education to VA and Department of Defense physicians, nurses, psychologists and physical therapists, and has collaborated with the American Pain Society to create a consumer education in its reception area and on its website. (University of California Davis Center for Pain Medicine)
• A community-based program with a strong focus on treating headache and facial pain that provides a comprehensive and integrated system for patients with severe and debilitating head, neck and facial pain. In Michigan the team has sponsored and lead an awareness initiative titled “Pain: It Costs, It Hurts, It Kills.” (Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute)
• The only multidisciplinary and multimodality pain program in southern Arizona, offering biobehavioral therapies, CAM Therapies, physical and vocational rehabilitation, nerve blocks and other procedures to reduce pain. The group provides frequent counseling services for local providers free of charge and for remote Indian Health Services and Medicaid clinics. (Integrated Pain Center of Arizona)

About the American Pain Society

Based in Glenview, Ill., the American Pain Society (APS) is a multidisciplinary community that brings together a diverse group of scientists, clinicians and other professionals to increase the knowledge of pain and transform public policy and clinical practice to reduce pain-related suffering. APS was founded in 1978 with 510 charter members. From the outset, the group was conceived as a multidisciplinary organization. APS has enjoyed solid growth since its early days and today has approximately 3,200 members. The Board of Directors includes physicians, nurses, psychologists, basic scientists, pharmacists, policy analysts and more.