The state was release shortly after the Joint Commission received a letter from more than five dozen nonprofit groups and medical experts, asking the organization to revisit its pain management standards, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
“In the environment of today’s prescription opioid epidemic, everyone is looking for someone to blame. Often, the Joint Commission’s pain standards take that blame,” Dr. Baker said in the statement. “We are encouraging our critics to look at our exact standards, along with the historical context of our standards, to fully understand what our accredited organizations are required to do with regard to pain.”
Dr. Baker says the Joint Commission requires patients to be assessed for pain and any pain should be managed; it does not require the use of drugs to do that.
Here are five misconceptions people have about the Joint Commission’s standards, summarized from Dr. Baker’s statement.
1. The Joint Commission endorses pain as a vital sign. Although some pain experts began calling for pain to be “made visible” and used as a vital sign in 1990, the Joint Commission does not endorse this practice and it is not included in the organization’s standards.
2. The Joint Commission requires pain assessment for all patients. While this used to be a requirement, it was eliminated in 2009.
3. The Joint Commission requires pain be treated until the pain score reaches zero. Throughout its history, the organization has advocated for an individualized patient-centric approach that is responsive to patient needs without requiring a pain score of zero.
4. The Joint Commission standards push doctors to prescribe opioids. The actual standard makes no mention of opioids. It reads, “Treatment strategies for pain may include pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches.”
5. The Joint Commission pain standards caused a sharp rise in opioid prescriptions. Contrary to this notion, data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows prescriptions had been steadily increasing for a decade prior to the standards’ release in 2001.
For more information on the Joint Commission’s standards and common misconceptions about pain management, read Dr. Baker’s full statement here.
More articles on pain management:
Health officials call for new pain treatment guidelines: 5 things to know
Researchers map protein that may help create treatment for chronic pain, cancer
Mass General: Addicts take opioids on hospital campus for quick intervention in case of OD
