All Articles on Pain

• Back pain: Research on new Group Health guidelines will shine light on changing systems of care

  Few health conditions are as common and confounding as back pain, the second leading cause of all doctor visits.
• Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute announces two awards to Group Health

  Group Health has been approved for two research awards from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study ways to improve care for back pain and to connect patients with community resources. The projects are part of a portfolio of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research that addresses PCORI’s National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda. Authorized by the Affordable Care Act, PCORI is an independent nonprofit dedicated to funding comparative clinical effectiveness research.
• Opioid-prescribing safety: Finding real-world solutions for a nationwide epidemic

  Fatal overdoses involving prescribed opioids quadrupled from 1999 to 2009, climbing to almost 16,000 U.S. deaths annually—more than cocaine and heroin overdoses combined. What wasn’t clear was how to combat this growing threat.
• Yoga eases back pain in largest U.S. yoga study to date

  Yoga classes were linked to better back-related function and diminished symptoms from chronic low back pain in the largest U.S. randomized controlled trial of yoga to date.
• Group Health establishes major initiative to prevent opioid abuse and overdose

  A report in the August 2011 issue of Health Affairs describes a major initiative at Group Health to make opioid prescribing safer while improving care for patients with chronic pain. Health Affairs is the nation’s premier health policy journal, and its August issue focuses on substance abuse.
• A learning health care system mobilizes to improve opioid prescribing safety

  Guided by research and monitoring patients, Group Health’s new initiative for safer opioid prescribing has produced stunning results in just nine months. Claire Trescott, MD, medical director of primary care, leads this innovative effort to protect patient safety at Group Health—and nationwide.
• Massage eases low back pain in randomized controlled trial

  Massage therapy helps ease chronic low back pain and improve function, according to a randomized controlled trial in the July 5 Annals of Internal Medicine. The first study to compare structural and relaxation (Swedish) massage, the trial found that both types of massage worked well, with few side effects.