Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Luann Foster

Second Advisor

Marie-Christine Goodworth

Comments

It is estimated that over half of the United States adult population experiences chronic pain, leading to high medical expenses and loss of productivity. Due to widespread impacts on daily living, chronic pain patients experience loss of function and depression. The most common traditional approach to treatment has been prescription opioid medication, which continues to be a controversial practice due to the high risk of addiction, misuse, and negative side effects. As the medical field moves toward a more holistic approach to treatment, a group of primary care clinics within a larger healthcare system in the Greater Portland, Oregon area established a patient-centered interdisciplinary approach to treating chronic pain patients. This study evaluated the effectiveness of this new approach through chart review. Specifically, this study examined opioid prescription dosages over time, patient utilization of medical services over time, and trends in provider utilization of standard pain program procedure during the early stages of development and implementation of the treatment program. The results helped to highlight the strengths and growing edges in the current implementation of the treatment program procedures. Results also conveyed that when the procedures are utilized, outcomes appear to be favorable to the patient sample and work toward achieving the goals set forth by the healthcare system, including improvement in patient outcomes, decrease in opioid dosages, and decline in overutilization of healthcare services. Future studies will be needed to ensure that these results are consistent when the sample size increases.

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