Samaritan Healthcare | The Samaritan | Fall 2018

6 THE SAMARITAN management that works Safe, cost-effective, and close-to-home PAIN It is a team approach between your doctor or specialist and the pain management healthcare staff to create a treatment plan to improve your quality of life and decrease your pain. C hronic pain—100 million Americans live with it. Have you slowly adjusted your daily activities to work around your chronic pain? Chronic pain is usually defined as pain lasting for three months or longer. It can affect everyday life and physical activities—even your mental health from continually needing to limit or change your normal routines. DEFINING YOUR PAIN MANAGEMENT TREATMENT PLAN Samaritan Healthcare now provides safe, cost- effective pain-management treatments that are a safe alternative to taking opioids.The treatments are for patients of all ages and are provided conve- niently close to home. A referral from your doc- tor is needed, so if you have chronic pain, ask your doctor if you are a candidate for pain management treatments. The treatments can be used for pain centered in the back, hips, knees, or other joints. It is a team approach between your doctor or specialist and the pain management healthcare staff to create a treatment plan to improve your quality of life and decrease your pain. OUR PAIN MANAGEMENT TEAM Our Pain Management Clinic works together with your primary care physician or specialist—such as an orthopaedic surgeon—to provide the full range of your pain management care. The Pain Management Clinic team includes Austin Miner, CRNA, and Stephanie Moore, CRNA. Miner and Moore are certified regis- tered nurse anesthetists who have received additional training throughout the U.S., as well as specialized training in the COOLIEF radio-frequency treatment method. WHAT IS NONSURGICAL PAIN MANAGEMENT? The first step in nonsurgical pain management treatment is locating the area causing the pain— such as the spine, an arthritic knee, or an inflamed nerve from an accident or previous surgery.This central pain area can be identified by your primary CRNAs: Your pain management specialists One hundred million Americans have chronic pain—at a cost of up to $635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity. As highly trained profes- sionals, certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA) are positioned to fill an im- portant role in solving this crisis, offering patients access to safe, cost-effective pain management and chronic pain management services. Sources: American Association of Nurse Anesthetists; Chronic Pain Management Guidelines