Pivot Pain Program Leading The Way to Wellness – National Pain Week

Chronic pain can affect many aspects of an individual’s life, often ostracising them from support networks and limiting their ability to engage in activities. When chronic pain occurs, especially when it means loss of work and income, it can be difficult to find a starting point to get on the path to pain management and recovery.

To raise awareness of pain during National Pain Week, we spoke to Kathy Hubble, CEO of Amelio Health. Amelio Health and Rehab Management are in partnership to deliver Pivot Pain, an 8 week integrated pain management program delivered for people who are experiencing persistent pain (greater than 3 months).

With 20 years of experience in multidisciplinary pain management and a master’s degree in Pain Management, Kathy has seen the success and failure of many intervention mechanisms, which has been used to inform the Pivot Pain program for a variety of individuals.

“In the past 2 years of delivering Pivot Pain, we have primarily been working with people who have entrenched pain behaviours, medication use, and disuse syndromes due to pain. Most have been on claim for more than 12 months and some up to 10 years.

The clients that get the most benefit from our program are those with pain that is inhibiting their return to work. They may be taking medications such as opioids, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, antispasmodics, and anti-inflammatory medications. They may also be seeking further surgery to try and fix their pain problem.

We are now targeting the factors that have been identified in research as predicting chronic pain. This means we can identify them early and prevent lengthy claims costs. One of our clients is looking at introducing the program at 7 days on claim.

The program is also being introduced to clients before surgery as Prehab, so they have better outcomes after surgery.”

In measuring the effectiveness of the program for people in pain, Kathy attributes the programs foundations for setting clients up for success.

“Pivot Pain is effective because the fundamental underpinnings are robust and driven by data and evidence.

• Treatment decisions augmented by Clinical Decision Support (CDS) systems, enriched with advanced analytics support optimal care. Chronic pain management outside the traditional healthcare setting partnering with rehabilitation providers and individuals to provide full engagement in care.
• Screening and identifying factors that impact a client, alerting the provider to discuss them with the client, and connecting the client with relevant community services.
• Advances in mobile health, machine learning, digitally mediated, consumer focused applications, are now used in self-management of chronic pain. These developments drive earlier interventions, improve outcomes, and support more engaged clients.
• Outcomes driven, values based care is measurable, and now with the introduction of machine learning, it is predictable.”

From our services and programs like Pivot Pain, through to the valuable tools we offer our clients, innovation is at the forefront of everything we do at Rehab Management. Our Head of Innovation Michelle Barratt is part of the team driving forward-thinking programs for clients, where she feels passionately about the work Rehab Management and Amelio Health are doing to improve the quality of life for individuals experiencing pain.

“As a psychologist working in workplace injury management, the impacts of persistent pain were something I would see every day. These were people who have had their lives turned upside down and cannot see a future without pain. The Pivot Pain program, delivered by the Rehab Management team in conjunction with Amelio Health, is an exciting game-changer. An evidence-based tailored program which provides people with not just a few tools but an entire toolbox to help them gain control again. In my role I am always looking for leading edge innovative services and interventions that will make the difference for our customers, we are constantly seeking to live our innovation value. Pivot Pain program is an excellent example of what can be achieved when advanced technology is combined with high quality health expertise”

Whether its chronic pain or a different injury, Rehab Management has an extensive service offering that can support you on your way to wellbeing.