facility setting. Ignoring the importance of
controlling pain puts patients at risk for
longer stays and decreased satisfaction.
Pain management is absolutely associat-
ed with how patients feel about their sur-
gery. Without question, you need to
address it. Spending a little more money
on the medications to do it right pays off
in the long run, because patient satisfac-
tion increases.
Eugene R. Viscusi, MD But we're in a vol-
ume-driven specialty and we're definitely
in a cost-minimization era of health care
where any extra dollar spent has to have
a profound effect on patient care. And
that's not only based on independent
data. Many centers now demand that they
see benefits with their own patients
before supporting the additional cost for
some pain control agents.
What are the pillars of your
multi-modal regimens?
Dr. Viscusi Acetaminophen, whether
administered PO or through an IV
(Ofirmev), is probably the most well-tol-
3 7
February 2015 | O U T PAT I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
Summit
Leading pain
management experts
open up about why
opioids are still
overused, the most
difficult patients they
treat and what
analgesic regimens
might look like in the
not-so-distant future.
Eugene R. Viscusi, MD
Director of Acute Pain Management
Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, Pa.
John Stamatos, MD
Director of Pain Management
North American Partners in Anesthesia
Melville, N.Y.
Mark Snyder, MD
Director of the Orthopaedic Center of Excellence
Good Samaritan Hospital
Cincinnati, Ohio
Philip Wagner, MD
Co-Director of Acute Pain Services
Hospital for Special Surgery
New York, N.Y.
