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Tips for Steering Clear of Problems with Pain-Med Prescribing

By Karen K. Davis, MA, CPHRM, Risk Management; NORCAL Mutual Insurance Company and the NORCAL Group The following tips will help you prescribe narcotics/opioids appropriately to patients in chronic pain: Obtain a thorough history and determine the specific cause of pain. Patients who request pain treatment should receive a comprehensive assessment aimed at finding a specific physical process to explain their pain. Stephen Richeimer, MD, Chief of Pain Medicine at the University of Southern California, says, “Assessment is a key issue. The history and physical examination provides the information that ...