Collaborative telecare system gets results /

Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a disabling and costly condition accounting for an estimated 70 million outpatient visits per year. To test whether a telephone-delivered collaborative care intervention could be effective, researchers randomly assigned 250 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain to one of two groups. The authors say the intervention's positive results were accomplished by "optimizing nonopiod analgesic medications using a stepped care algorithm and monitoring." They believe that a telecare strategy could enhance the ability of primary care practitioners to treat patients with chronic pain.

Nursing