Memorial Hermann Prevention and Recovery Center Honored with West Quality Improvement Award
HOUSTON (May28,
2015)
This month,the Memorial Hermann Prevention
and Recovery Center (PaRC) was presented the James
W. West, M.D. Quality Improvement Award in recognition of its Pain Recovery
Program at the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) 2015
Annual Leadership Conference. This year marks Memorial Hermann PaRC’s second time
to receive this prestigious recognition. PaRC also received the award in 2011
for its Performance Improvement Program.
Memorial
Hermann PaRC’s Pain Recovery Program addresses the biological, psychological
and social factors that contribute to chronic pain by teaching patients a
variety of pain management techniques to improve their quality of life and
achieve pain relief and management without reliance on addictive medications.
“The goal of the Pain
Recovery Program is to enable chronic pain sufferers to manage their pain
and to live a life without depending on addictive medications,” said Matt
Feehery, Senior Vice President and CEO of Memorial Hermann PaRC. “Our staff puts
forth tremendous efforts with every patient to work toward that goal. We are
honored to receive the James W. West, M.D. Quality Improvement Award.”
The Memorial
Hermann PaRC staff identified a need in its patient community more than four
years ago and began tailoring a program to simultaneously address patients’
chronic pain conditions and addiction problems. By integrating physical therapy
and other pain-reducing therapies with its behavioral treatment program, the
Pain Recovery Program has been able to help this patient group.
“This award
exemplifies PaRC’s continued commitment to quality excellence,” said Keith
Alexander, Senior Vice President and Regional
President at Memorial Hermann. “Accessible, quality chronic pain
management alternatives directly impact patients and address the prescription
drug abuse crisis facing the United States today.”
An estimated
116 million people suffer from chronic pain in the United States and
painkillers are abused by 5.1 million users, more than any other prescription
medication, according to the National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Many of the Pain Recovery Program’s
patients were introduced to prescription narcotics by virtue of their chronic
pain ailment, according to Memorial Hermann PaRC.
“Our patients
are finding ways to live more meaningful lives and to incorporate effective
pain management strategies without further reliance on addictive pain
medications,” Feehery said. “For many patients and families, the improvement in
their condition and the opportunity for a positively enhanced quality of life
beyond treatment has been dramatic and life altering.”
Memorial
Hermann PaRC found that 95 percent of patients treated in its Pain Recovery
Program in the last two years reported long-term suffering (more than two
years) and complications from chronic pain prior to treatment, including 43
percent who had endured chronic pain for 10 to15 years, or longer. All Pain
Recovery Program participants were dependent on addictive prescription
medications (68 percent) or alcohol and illicit drugs (32 percent).
Approximately 65 percent of the Pain Recovery Program participants met their
pain management goals and 75 percent met their physical therapy goals despite
many being de-conditioned from years of physical inactivity. None of the
participants experienced any of the side effects caused by addictive narcotic
medications while in the Pain Recovery Program.
The James W.
West, M.D. Quality Improvement Award was established in 2000 by the NAATP and the
Vendome Group, LLC, which publishes Behavioral Healthcare and other
publications focused on addiction treatment. Dr. West, Medical Director
Emeritus of the Betty Ford Center, is a long-time quality advocate, according
to the NAATP.
For more
information about the Memorial Hermann PaRC Pain Recovery Program, call
1-877-464-7272 or go to http://parc.memorialhermann.org.
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About
Memorial Hermann
An
integrated health system, Memorial Hermann is
known for world-class clinical expertise, patient-centered care, leading edge
technology, and innovation. The system, with its exceptional medical staff and
more than 20,000 employees, serves to advance health in Southeast Texas and the
Greater Houston community. Memorial Hermann’s 13 hospitals include four
hospitals in the Texas Medical Center: an acute care hospital which houses the Texas Trauma Institute and
a Level I trauma center of which Life Flight® air
ambulance is a part, a hospital for children, a rehabilitation hospital and
an orthopedic and spine hospital; eight suburban hospitals; and a second
rehabilitation hospital in Katy. The system also operates three Heart &
Vascular Institutes, the Mischer Neuroscience
Institute, three IRONMAN Sports
Medicine Institute locations, joint replacement centers,
cancer centers, imaging and surgery centers, sports medicine and rehabilitation
centers, outpatient laboratories, a chemical dependency treatment center, a
home health agency, a retirement community and a nursing home. As an
Accountable Care Organization, the system also offers employers health
solutions and health benefit plans through its wholly owned Memorial Hermann Health Insurance
Company.