Abstract

Session presented on Sunday, July 27, 2014:

Purpose: This pilot project evaluated whether the pain assessment instrument Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) embedded in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) used by providers in a primary care setting of Fort Belvoir Community Hospital would improve documentation of pain assessments. Background/significance: 'The Office of the Surgeon General's Pain Management Task Force (PMTF) determined that pain management in the military treatment system should have a biopsychosocial focus and pain assessments reflect a multidisciplinary approach.' Health-information technology, such as electronic health records, has the potential to facilitate the assessment of pain through the incorporation of valid pain assessment tools that would provide a comprehensive and timely assessment of pain patients.

Methods: This project used a quasi-experimental design using non equivalent groups to determine the difference, if any, in pain assessment documentation after the introduction of a pain assessment documentation tool, the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), as a template embedded into the existing EMR.

Results: The data was aggregated and summarized and a paired t-test was used to compare results between patient encounters pre- and post-implementation of the BPI.' Strong evidence demonstrated a high effectiveness of the BPI to improve pain assessment documentation, particularly in the area of patient functioning:' general activity, walking, work, mood, enjoyment of life, relations with others, and sleep.

Conclusion: Embedding a validated tool for comprehensive pain assessment in an EMR enables providers to perform a comprehensive assessment of pain patients that reflects a multidisciplinary approach to pain management.

Author Details

Theresa Ann Pechaty, DNP

Sigma Membership

Eta Alpha

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quasi-Experimental Study, Other

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Functionality, Chronic pain, Acute Pain

Conference Name

25th International Nursing Research Congress

Conference Host

Sigma Theta Tau International

Conference Location

Hong Kong

Conference Year

2014

Rights Holder

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All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

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Will introduction of a pain assessment template in an electronic medical record result in improvement of pain assessment documentation in an outpatient setting

Hong Kong

Session presented on Sunday, July 27, 2014:

Purpose: This pilot project evaluated whether the pain assessment instrument Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) embedded in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) used by providers in a primary care setting of Fort Belvoir Community Hospital would improve documentation of pain assessments. Background/significance: 'The Office of the Surgeon General's Pain Management Task Force (PMTF) determined that pain management in the military treatment system should have a biopsychosocial focus and pain assessments reflect a multidisciplinary approach.' Health-information technology, such as electronic health records, has the potential to facilitate the assessment of pain through the incorporation of valid pain assessment tools that would provide a comprehensive and timely assessment of pain patients.

Methods: This project used a quasi-experimental design using non equivalent groups to determine the difference, if any, in pain assessment documentation after the introduction of a pain assessment documentation tool, the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), as a template embedded into the existing EMR.

Results: The data was aggregated and summarized and a paired t-test was used to compare results between patient encounters pre- and post-implementation of the BPI.' Strong evidence demonstrated a high effectiveness of the BPI to improve pain assessment documentation, particularly in the area of patient functioning:' general activity, walking, work, mood, enjoyment of life, relations with others, and sleep.

Conclusion: Embedding a validated tool for comprehensive pain assessment in an EMR enables providers to perform a comprehensive assessment of pain patients that reflects a multidisciplinary approach to pain management.