The Surgeon General-Army Pain Management Task Force is partnering with Project ECHO https://echo.umn.edu, an educational program developed at the University of New Mexico. The plan is for the military to expand access to pain specialty care.
The tele-monitoring program originally adopted by the Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) https://landstuhl.tricare.mil, now provides this program to others including the Air Force and Navy. “I’m proud to be part of a team that helps the military community address healthcare initiatives through the ECHO model,” said, Lester Gresham, Health System Specialist managing the ECHO program at LRMC.
The LRMC ECHO telemonitoring model uses a knowledge network of 20 military facilities to share best practices and science-based interventions through video conferencing and virtual learning sessions related to chronic pain management to help build supportive relationships to help participants in the program.
Effective pain management is critical for service member readiness as acute and chronic pain is one of the primary reasons that service members seek medical care. One of LRMC’s Pain Specialists, Dr. Octav Constantinescu has been moderating the program since its adoption and believes that ECHO enables a multidisciplinary team how to best address touch chronic pain problems.
LRMC’s Interdisciplinary Pain Management Center (IPMC) is one of seven IPMCs serving as a regional hub and serves also as the tertiary level of pain care on the Army’s Stepped Care Model of Pain.
According to Lt. Col. Brian McLean, Chief of the LRMC IPMC and ECHO Director, “Quality pain management focusing on self-care, functional rehabilitation, and following the stepped care model, helps service members return to duty.”