It’s no secret that there is an opioid addiction crisis in this country and that opioid prescriptions have played a role in this epidemic. To the integrative health community, it’s also no secret that part of the solution lies with integrative pain management protocols. What you may not know is that there is an inter-agency task force has been meeting to update best practices and make recommendations for managing chronic and acute pain. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is overseeing this effort with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Defense.
Very shortly, there will be an opportunity for integrative practitioners like yourself to provide your own comments and recommendations to The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force. Today’s Practitioner will be letting you know when the comment period is open and will bring you news updates from the hosts of the recently held Integrative Pain Congress, the Academy of Integrative Pain Management (AIPM), and our partners at the Integrative Health Policy Consortium, a medical professional non-profit group that advocates for whole-person healthcare.
“Comprehensive, integrative pain management (CIPM) will improve the lives of millions of Americans, save billions of dollars, and reduce opioid prescribing,” said Len Wisneski, MD, Board Chair of IHPC in a news article. “The only way this crisis will ever be resolved is if stakeholders come together to advocate and identify federal and state action.”
To bring you up to date, we are offering a webinar, hosted by AIPM, from Dr. Vanila Singh, Chief Medical Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health, HHS and Dr. Shari Ling, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, CMS. The purpose of this webinar is to hear an update from Dr. Singh on the HHS Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force and find ways to ensure that efforts within the integrative healthcare community are aligned whenever possible.
Click Here to for Access to the Webinar
This is a unique opportunity to bring a voice to integrative pain care. We look forward to bringing you more information about The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, IHPC and AIPM in the future.
To find out more about IHPC’s work in integrative pain care policy, click here. For more on AIPM and their work with the Integrative Pain Care Policy Congress, click here.
The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force was established to propose updates to best practices and issue recommendations that address gaps or inconsistencies for managing chronic and acute pain. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is overseeing this effort with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Defense. The Task Force, which was authorized by section 101 of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 – PDF, will also provide the public with an opportunity to comment on any proposed updates and recommendations and develop a strategy for disseminating information about best practices.
