Online CME offers case studies in pain management

Pain experts develop an interactive program for physicians treating and managing chronic conditions.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. Dec. 2, 2002.

Physicians recognize that undertreatment of pain is a growing problem. But that recognition can be offset by fears of providing treatment that could lead to addiction by patients or scrutiny by government.

Helping doctors who treat patients with chronic pain find balance was one of the aims of the National Pain Education Council as it developed a free, online continuing medical education curriculum complete with interactive case studies that simulate real patients whose conditions progress as their pain is treated.

The development of the program was chaired by Richard Payne, MD, chief of pain and palliative care services at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and Russell K. Portenoy, MD, chair of the department of pain medicine and palliative care at Beth Israel Medical Center, also in New York City.

CME credits are provided by Discovery International of Deerfield, Ill., and the program is funded by an educational grant from Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc., of Titusville, N.J.

So far, the CME program has 1,100 registered users. That number was reached with limited promotion and is expected to go up in early January and February 2003 when more marketing is done, said NPEC spokeswoman Meryl Rader.

Case studies include virtual patients with low back pain as well some whose pain comes from cancer, osteoarthritis, diabetic neuropathy, fibromyalgia, or burns. Also available is a CME/CE series that includes instruction on optimizing treatment of pain with opioid therapy and assessment of aberrant drug-related behavior in chronic pain patients. [...]