Pain Management Task Force to vote on final recommendations to improve treatment of pain

The Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, a federal advisory committee, will be voting on final recommendations for pain management best practices at its May 9-10 meeting to be held at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C.

The Task Force, which was established by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, will also vote on final recommendations to address gaps or inconsistencies for managing chronic and acute pain.

The draft final recommendations are posted on the Task Force website and the final report is expected to post there by May 30.

The Task Force draft final recommendations emphasize the importance of providing balanced, individualized, patient-centered pain management to ensure better clinical outcomes for pain that improve quality of life and functionality for patients, and endorse a broad framework of approaches for treating acute and chronic pain.

The draft final recommendations also advocate for tools to provide better pain management, and identify cross-cutting initiatives essential for implementing clinical best practices that focus on risk assessment, education, access to care, and addressing stigma. They support a multimodal approach for acute injury and perioperative pain, as well as a multidisciplinary approach for chronic pain patients with various underlying pain conditions, when clinically indicated, while also mitigating opioid exposure.

The Task Force has 28 members, representing federal and non-federal entities with diverse disciplines and views. It is overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in cooperation with the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense. The Task Force members have significant public- and private-sector experience across the disciplines of pain management, patient advocacy, substance use disorders, mental health, veteran health and minority health.

Members of the public may attend the meeting in person or via webcast. The meeting will occur on Thursday, May 9, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and on Friday, May 10, 2019, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET. For more information, visit the Task Force’s meeting page.