ProCare Pain Solutions Publishes New Research Exploring Effects of Fibromyalgia on Chronic Pain Population

MELVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 29, 2018 -- ProCare Pain Solutions, a division of North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) announced today that an innovative research study it conducted in 2016 and 2017 has been published in the January 3, 2018 edition of the prestigious Pain Practice journal. The article, entitled Clinical Characteristics of Fibromyalgia in a Chronic Pain Population, is the first in a series of three underwritten by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and can be viewed here: https://napaanesthesia.com/files/Gostine_et_al-2018-Pain_Practice.pdf

The ingenious goal of the study was to determine if diagnostic information on fibromyalgia could be elicited from data already routinely gathered from patient electronic health records (EHR).  After reviewing thousands of patient records, the results revealed that multiple co-morbidities, diagnoses, musculoskeletal procedures and treatment intensity correlated well with the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. It suggests that a predictive model could be developed to identify the diagnosis earlier in the course of the disease process, leading to earlier and more proactive treatment.

Fibromyalgia is a common condition characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, joint stiffness, and fatigue, and can be difficult to diagnose.  The gold standard tests, the Widespread Pain Index (WPI) and the Symptom Severity Index (SSI) are rarely employed in primary care or in pain clinics, and are difficult to integrate into general electronic health records.  This work paves the way for the effective use of underutilized ‘dark’ data in the EHR to diagnose fibromyalgia, and possibly other conditions, that can be of value in the care of patients. 

“This article and the research done at ProCare Pain Solutions highlights our commitment to provide the best care possible for our patients as well as educate our colleagues, and advance the profession of pain medicine,” said Fred Davis, MD, one of the lead authors on the study.

Additional work has been undertaken by ProCare Pain Solutions to develop an algorithm that can be incorporated into their practice EHR as a clinical decision-making support tool, alerting physicians to the possibility of fibromyalgia. It is an example of how ProCare’s EHRs are incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) elements, providing more value to our practices and better care for our patients.  Furthermore, the algorithms developed will be able to be readily applied to other practice EHRs.

About ProCare Pain Solutions
Originally created in 1994 to service the management needs of ProCare Co-Founders Drs. Fred Davis and Mark Gostine’s clinical practice, ProCare began and continues to build on the foundation of helping local practices connect with their surrounding communities and deliver exceptional patient care. Serving Michigan communities for the past 20+ years, the company has been involved in practice development and management, and medical research. ProCare is also responsible for the creation of the PRISM™ Care Management System, a medical intelligence system that incorporates a multidimensional pain health and outcomes tool to assess the unique personal pain experience of each patient. In 2016, ProCare joined North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA), one of the leading single-specialty anesthesia and perioperative management companies in the US, to expand the organization’s efforts on helping patients across the nation manage and alleviate acute and chronic pain through a data-driven patient experience system. For more information, go to www.procarepain.com.

About North American Partners in Anesthesia
As a clinician-led organization, North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) is redefining healthcare, delivering unsurpassed excellence to its partners and patients every day. In three decades, NAPA has grown to become one of the nation’s leading single-specialty anesthesia and perioperative management companies, serving more than one million patients annually in more than 200 healthcare facilities throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Southeast. For more information, please visit www.napaanesthesia.com.

Media Contact: Barbara Cerrone
North American Partners in Anesthesia
P: (516) 532-6715
E: [email protected]