For the medical system that spends millions of shekels on poor treatment today, these costs are modest. Evaluation and Quality Control Realization of the pyramid model that conceptualizes transfer of the

onus of management of chronic pain patients from the tertiary centers back to the community necessitates a deep change in the training of physicians Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical at the various levels of treatment. The efficacy of this move must be evaluated with measurable parameters. One obvious parameter could be the change in waiting list time for pain clinics, although this might not necessarily reflect on the quality of care given in the community. We recommend the following parameters that would give evidence of a change in the bio-psycho-social aspects Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the chronic pain phenomena: 1) in the biological aspect we could follow such parameters as VAS and the use of pain medication 28 , 29 ;

2) on the psychological aspect one could examine quality of life measures such as patient satisfaction, stress, anxiety, and anger 30 , 31 ; and 3) such social parameters Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical as days off work and physician visitation rates. Economic and Financial Considerations More effective treatment for chronic pain should have economic advantages such as decreased requests for imaging, decreased referral to consultant services, and decreased pharmaceutical spending. 31 These also are measurable parameters. Finally, since this model is expected to be implemented gradually, it would be possible to compare areas that have implemented the model

to areas that have not yet reached implementation stages. Incentive of Physicians to Participate Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in the Training Program The program relies on the voluntary participation of primary care physicians and furthermore on their willingness to pay for the training. One may wonder what incentive these physicians would have to undertake such an effort. We suggest a few such incentives: Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Firstly, primary physicians are often frustrated by their inability to help pain patients (and these constitute a significant part of daily visits); by acquiring relevant skills they may enhance their ability to help patients and their sense Cilengitide of self competence. Secondly, many primary care physicians seek selleck chemicals llc professional horizons that would enable them to devote part of their job to specific fields of medicine. Thirdly, the skills acquired in the program will not only attract new patients to join the physicians’ clinic, but would also be applicable in the private practice. And indeed, for these reasons among others, we see an impressive demand for the training programs offered in Israel, the extent of which outstrips the supply of pain selleck compound schools. Other Concerns The training of primary care physicians would necessitate a paradigm shift in the way patients suffering from pain are dealt with in the community.