Just after Rhode Island rolled out new legislation to combat opioid overdoses last week, a new study awarded the state an “A” for balanced management policies for pain management.
The study “Achieving Balance in State Pain Policy: A Progress Report Card” was prepared by The University of Winsconsin Pain & Policy Studies Group (PPSG) in partnership with the American Cancer Society and the advocacy affiliate The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). The report analyzed legislation in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, and how well they support of deter proper pain management and care.
Across the country, PPSG found that although many states have made significant progress over the last decade, ensuring safe access to pain care, that momentum has slowed, and in some states even declined in the past few years. The belief is that this is a reaction to the country’s drug addiction and overdose epidemic.
David Woodmansee, associate director of state and local campaigns for ACS CAN, said in a statement, “There is a growing movement to rein in opioid abuse in this country, but we have to be careful when considering some of these stringent prescribing guidelines."
He noted that although the ACS CAN supports efforts to curb the public health issue of addiction, it is necessary that policies do not “impede access” to patients with serious pain concerns such as those suffering from cancer and other chronic diseases.
The study acknowledged this as the “Central Principal of Balance”, a “dual obligation of governments to establish a system of controls to prevent abuse trafficking and diversion or narcotic drugs, while at the same time ensuring their medical availability.”
States were graded by their ability to enact and follow legislations and policies that adhered to and strived for this balance.
Examples of new instituted policies across the country were authorizing and or requiring healthcare facilities to assess and treat pain, increasing the requirements for medical schools education or continuing education concerning pain management, implementing various commissions or councils to address the need for better policies concerning pain treatment focused on controlled substances among others.
Rhode Island was one of only 13 states in the country to receive an “A” for its’ balance of combating addiction as well as ensuring pain treatment was available for patients.
For all the states receiving a top score, the majority of improvements came in health care regulatory boards enacting policies that “encourage” appropriate pain management as well as repealing “restrictive or ambiguous policy language”.
The study said that pain is not only the most common reason Americans engage with the health care system, managing pain is also the leading contributor to health care costs. Increased pain can drastically affect a patients quality of life, in daily function, sleep, work and relationships and yet patients often face obstacles to assessment diagnosis and treatment.
"Rhode Island is doing well in implementing sensible policies that make the treatment of pain available to people with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Through effective regulations we can continue to address the serious problem of untreated and poorly treated pain and, at the same time, establish a system to mitigate drug abuse," said
Woodmansee. "Patients, health organizations, healthcare professionals, regulatory officials, licensing boards and policymakers all have a critical role to play to promote a balanced approach to pain control policy and practice."
For more information or to read the report in its’ entirety, visit www.acscan.org/painreportcard.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here