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Referral Information
Introduction This section is designed to introduce you to the UCSF Pain Management Center (PMC). We can provide your practice and patients copies of our brochure if requested. Also the purpose of this narrative is to explain the treatment and philosophy of the Pain Management Center and what we need to evaluate your patients. The Pain Management Center has been in existence since 1987, originating at the Parnassus campus, and consolidated at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion. The Center treats patients with chronic medical, surgical, and neurological pain problems. The PMC is staffed by a variety of doctors and therapists with specialties in anesthesiology, neurology, nursing, behavioral medicine, and physical therapy. Consultants are readily available in orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, rheumatology, psychiatry, pharmacy and occupational therapy.
How Patients Become Patients — Consultative Referral Process All patients must be referred for consult by a health care provider and have a primary care physician in order to be seen at the PMC. We would like to suggest that the referring physician write or fax a letter or synopsis of request for consult to: UCSF Mount Zion Pain Management Center Once a decision has been made to refer a patient for consult to the PMC, all pertinent information, specifically, records of previous medical evaluations, including operative reports, X-ray or imaging reports, and psychological reports or tests that have been performed should be forwarded by mail or faxed to our Center. Also include the reason for the consult and authorization from the patient’s insurance if required. Some patients are expedited into the Center due to their medical condition. These would include patients with the diagnosis of active cancer, acute herpes zoster, acute CRPS less than 6 months, and blood patch procedures. Many times the patient does not know why he/she is being seen here. These measures will ensure the best possible care for the patient.
After the referral for consult is made, the patient will receive by mail: a pain questionnaire, personal data form, and information about the Pain Management Center. The questionnaire is extensive but extremely valuable in the initial evaluation. An envelope is provided for the questionnaire's return or the patient may bring it with them to their first appointment. With the information provided by your office, the patient is contacted for their initial appointment(s). Since we have several specialties, the patient is scheduled with the most appropriate physician specialty to evaluate their pain. Most patients are instructed to complete the pain questionnaire before their appointment (exceptions include: patients with acute zoster, or those patients who are to be seen specifically for a blood patch evaluation). After the initial examination, the diagnosis is frankly but tactfully discussed with the patient and the rationale for their probable treatment plan. Those patients seeing the psychologist will have a treatment plan decided at the multidisciplinary conference. You, the referring physician, will be sent a copy of our office dictations. If, for any reason, you do not receive them, please call our office as soon as possible so that this can be corrected.
Along with the medical evaluation, some patients will be seen by a psychologist for
Our multidisciplinary team meets weekly to discuss the treatment plans for the patients who have undergone a psychological evaluation with their initial medical evaluation. This meeting is held every Tuesday at noon. In this example, your patient's case will be discussed on the Tuesday typically following their last evaluation appointment. We will provide recommendations to the referring physician and/or primary care provider about treatment or specific medications. You, the referring or primary care physician will be responsible for all prescriptions. This must be emphasized that the physicians at the PMC work in the capacity of consultants. As a result, they are unable to write prescriptions on an ongoing basis. This allows the Pain Management Center to be responsive to expanding patient evaluations and to provide treatment modalities that are unique to our expertise. This does not apply to cancer patients, for whom we can write all pain prescriptions as necessary, nor does it apply to medications for implanted pumps. If the insurance company requires prior authorization, medical record details or a treatment plan will be mailed or faxed to the insurance company requesting authorization and this sometimes delays treatment. After authorization has been obtained, our office staff will contact the patient. It may be advantageous for you to explain our process to your patients, so they understand what a multidisciplinary Pain Management Center program is about. This also helps them to not get discouraged by not receiving an appointment immediately. Our one page checklist form indicates the information that we must gather to ensure that we can adequately evaluate your patients.
If you have any additional questions,
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