| Video
Public policy reaction to the opioid crisis has significant implications for practitioners and their patients with pain. Attorney Michael Barnes looks at the current federal and state-level regulatory picture, and at some benefits, drawbacks, and unintended consequences of regulatory response.
| Article
It is possible to provide the best care for a patient and protect yourself from criminal and civil liability. In fact, when you do one right, you do the other right as well. Typically you want to look for three things as a prescriber of any controlled prescription medication, opioid or otherwise...
| Podcast
Every day something new happens in pain management. One day it might be a change in a licensing board practice standards and the next day might bring new legislation on opioid overdose prevention. Whatever the case, pain management practitioners need a system to help keep themselves and their staff...
| Podcast
In February 2016, President Obama expressed his compassion for people with pain loud and clear, saying, "If we go to doctors right now and say 'Don't overprescribe' without providing some mechanisms for people in these communities to deal with the pain that they have or the issues that they have...
| Podcast
Chart documentation is important in any practice, but even more so when working with chronic pain patients. The treatment of chronic pain management comes with increased potential for litigation. There are important steps that prescribers must take with their documentation to lessen that risk. As a...
| Video
In an environment of escalating scrutiny over controlled medications, frontline practitioners who prescribe them for pain therapy need to take the appropriate steps to demonstrate "prescribing for a legitimate medical purpose while acting in the usual course of professional practice." Jennifer Bolen...
| Video
In this segment, a former law enforcement professional and credentialed pharmacist considers the world of illicit pharmaceutical trafficking from the juncture of prescribers, investigators, and the legal system. What is happening, and how can the professions coordinate in response?
| Video
Clinicians involved in pain management face a practice environment that is in constant flux. In this segment, an attorney with deep experience in the medico-legal issues confronting pain practitioners outlines steps that they can take to stay current and compliant, while providing for their patients...
| Video
The enforcement arms of both commercial and government payor plans are focused on reimbursement claims for clinical laboratory services. Ongoing changes to billing and coding for services further complicate the picture for practitioners. Here’s what you need to know to stay in control of...
| Article
Ancillary services, such as pharmacy or clinical laboratory, can be a lifeline to a provider, and there’s nothing wrong with having them in your office, but there’s some due diligence that needs to be done, both on your own, and probably with an attorney. If you’re going to wear all the hats of...