Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Integrative Pain Management Program in a Primary Care Safety-Net Clinic

To design, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive Integrative Pain Management Program (IPMP) for patients with chronic pain in a safety-net primary care clinic.

We used a quality improvement "Plan Do Study Act" (PDSA) framework to design, refine, and evaluate an integrative chronic pain program.

An urban federally qualified health center located in a community with high rates of chronic pain, substance use, and opioid overdose.

Eligible participants included individuals with pain for greater than 3 months who were prescribed opioid therapy.

We designed IPMP using a PDSA framework that promotes continuous evaluation and adaptation of the program to meet the needs of the clinical system. We assessed feasibility and acceptability with program referrals and attendance and evaluated program satisfaction.

The IPMP delivered a 12-week group-based intervention that involved group support, education on pain etiology and treatments, movement-based interventions, mindfulness-based therapies, acupuncture, and massage therapy. One hundred forty-six patients were referred to IPMP; 58 individuals participated in one of the first three cohorts of the program. Sixty-two percent of participants attended at least half of the sessions. Staff and participants reported high levels of satisfaction with IPMP and demand for longitudinal services.

An IPMP delivered within a safety-net primary care clinic could be implemented in a way feasible and acceptable to staff and participants with the support of the local health care system. The application of a PDSA cycle allowed for rigorous implementation and evaluation of a multimodal pain program. Quality improvement frameworks are a strategy to improve and expand the delivery of high-quality patient-centered integrative pain treatments.