Presented at the 2013 AAPM Annual Meeting « Back

TelePain: A Platform for Concurrent Education, Clinical Care, and Research

David Tauben, MD, tauben@uw.edu1, Cara Towle, RN MSN2, Debra B. Gordon, RN DNP FAAN1, Brian R. Theodore, PhD1, Ardith Z. Doorenbos, PhD RN FAAN1, (1) University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington

Introduction: As has much of America, the northwest U.S. region struggles with fragmented, inconsistent, and financially unsustainable pain treatment resulting in unsatisfactory outcomes. In response, the University of Washington (UW) TelePain program was launched. The TelePain program propagates education in evidence-based pain practices and ready access to pain specialty consultation for community providers. Methods: Before initiating the TelePain program, IRB approval was obtained. The TelePain program is held via weekly multisite video teleconference to community healthcare providers throughout the Pacific Northwest. Each session comprises a formal 20-minute didactic presentation, followed by consultations between community providers and an expert panel of pain specialists on complex cases. To date, 2100 medical providers from over 100 unique locations have received over 3,000 hours of chronic pain education and consultation. Providers completed a survey for CME four times a year. Measures included satisfaction with the telhealth system and self-perceived competence in pain management. Results: Providers participating in the weekly case conferences scored significantly higher on perceived competence in pain management than compared to baseline (p < .01). Providers also reported a high level of satisfaction with Telehealth. Conclusions: Patients, providers, society, corporate America, and government at all levels are seeking healthcare solutions that are both cost-effective and patient focused, keeping patients close to home, family, and their work. TelePain offers an important solution for this problem, providing an effective way to deliver pain management education and consultation, which increases pain management competence among community providers. References: 1) Haozous, E, Doorenbos, AZ, Demiris, G, Eaton, LH, Towle, C, Kundu, A, & Buchwald, D. (2012). Role of Telehealth/videoconferencing in managing cancer pain in rural American Indian communities. Psycho-Oncology, 21, 219-223. 2) Doorenbos, AZ, Kundu, A, Eaton, LH, Demiris, G, Haozous, EA, Towle, C, & Buchwald, D. (2011). Enhancing access to cancer education for rural health care providers via telehealth. Journal of Cancer Education, 26, 682-686. 3) Doorenbos, AZ, Demiris, G, Towle, C, Kundu, A, Revels, L, Colven, R, Norris, TE, & Buchwald, D. (2011). Developing the Native People for Cancer Control Telehealth Network. Telemedicine and e-Health, 17, 30-34.

Funding: National Institutes of Health grant #R42 CA141875 and R01NR012450