TestSTAT helps you
assess addiction risk &
offer state-of-the art pain management
Opioid Addiction
In a study of 705 patients in long-term opioid therapy for non-cancer pain, 35% met psychiatric criteria for addiction (J of Add Dis, 2011). Drugs like Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet and morphine help tens of thousands bear chronic pain so they can function. But, no doctor wants to cause addiction.
Reports suggest that even pain patients with no prior history of abuse or addiction may have up to a 5% rate of addiction! New research suggests that risk is even worse: A CDC Report (March, 2017) based on 1.3 million people found that the likelihood of chronic opioid use increased significantly after just three days of use in opioid naïve non-cancer patients. Almost half of patients prescribed opioids for just one month will become dependent, and will still be using them (often illicitly) a year later.
Reduce the Risk
The Pain Management Evaluation uses the three best measures available to detect this risk. The PME must take at least 30 minutes in order to be billable as a one-hour unit. While it takes much longer than a doctor administered screening, it is given by a physician extender so the doctor spends no direct time in its administration. This means it can be comprehensive and examine a patient's history and current psychiatric status, unlike a two-minute screen. The FDA Blueprint for Prescriber Education makes its expectations for prescribers of Extended Release or Long Acting pain killers crystal clear:
Prescribers should assess each patient’s risk of abuse, including substance use and psychiatric history. Which means they: Understand and appropriately use screening tools for addiction or abuse to help assess potential risks associated with chronic opioid therapy and to help manage patients using ER/LA opioid analgesics…
See the Legislation section under Resources in this website for information about the nightmare method in the US of how the FDA regulates opioids, but it's the DEA that enforces. Thus, people the FDA calls "patients" are often viewed by the DEA as "criminals" who then treat physicians like "pushers." If you prescribe opioids, you need to have good documentation (like the PME's report) in your records, as someday you may to defend yourself to the FDA, your medical board or even the DEA.
Treatment Planning
A good pain treatment program is motivating; i.e., a patient sticks with it. It starts with the PME assessing a patient's interests, lifestyle and health. A treatment plan should take into account all aspects of the person, not just their pain. The PME helps you assess and develop "alternative" treatment options–which can bring in additional cash revenue; e.g., through complementary services to your practice.
Document It
The PME yields a multi-page Report in PDF form that upon completion is instantly emailed to you for uploading into any electronic health record (EHR), or printing for a paper file. It documents the assessment, results, suggested diagnoses, offers recommendations, indicates which CPT codes are billable and which PQRS/MACRA measures can be counted towards your Medicare requirement.
Get Reimbursed
TestSTAT's computer-administered tests are billable to all insurances, including Medicare and Medicaid. The approximate 2016 national Medicare allowed rate was about $70 per test when an assistant oversees a patient taking the test on a tablet or computer. If you give it yourself, as an HCP, it reimburses at about $100. Its CPT code is billable on the same day as other procedures (like E&M)–an important advantage as few codes allow this.
Get Help with Diagnoses
Everything changed, dramatically, with the recent introduction of the DSM-5, which completely replacing the old diagnoses used in pain management since 1994. The Somatization Disorder, Hypochondriasis and Pain Disorder diagnoses you used for 20+ years are no longer valid, and Conversion Disorder has been modified, see more about this here.
The PME uses the new DSM-5 criteria and terminology like Somatic Pain Disorder, Illness Anxiety Disorder and Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder. The PME will help you adapt to the new diagnostic criteria and ICD-10 terminology for valid coding and billing.
The PME also evaluates for depression, anxiety and other mental health issues that affect pain treatment, see the next section for more about this, and how you can get paid to do this.
Treatment Planning
A good pain treatment program is motivating; i.e., a patient sticks with it. It starts with the PME assessing a patient's interests, lifestyle and health. A treatment plan should take into account all aspects of the person, not just their pain. The PME helps you assess and develop "alternative" treatment options–which can bring in additional cash revenue; e.g., through complementary services to your practice.
Document It
The PME yields a multi-page Report in PDF form that upon completion is instantly emailed to you for uploading into any electronic health record (EHR), or printing for a paper file. It documents the assessment, results, suggested diagnoses, offers recommendations, indicates which CPT codes are billable and which PQRS/MACRA measures can be counted towards your Medicare requirement.
Get Reimbursed
TestSTAT's computer-administered tests are billable to all insurances, including Medicare and Medicaid. The approximate 2016 national Medicare allowed rate was about $70 per test when an assistant oversees a patient taking the test on a tablet or computer. If you give it yourself, as an HCP, it reimburses at about $100. Its CPT code is billable on the same day as other procedures (like E&M)–an important advantage as few codes allow this.
Get Help with Diagnoses
Everything changed, dramatically, with the recent introduction of the DSM-5, which completely replacing the old diagnoses used in pain management since 1994. The Somatization Disorder, Hypochondriasis and Pain Disorder diagnoses you used for 20+ years are no longer valid, and Conversion Disorder has been modified, see more about this here.
The PME uses the new DSM-5 criteria and terminology like Somatic Pain Disorder, Illness Anxiety Disorder and Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder. The PME will help you adapt to the new diagnostic criteria and ICD-10 terminology for valid coding and billing.
The PME also evaluates for depression, anxiety and other mental health issues that affect pain treatment, see the next section for more about this, and how you can get paid to do this.