Addressing Obstacles to Evidence-Informed Pain Care

Abstract

Pain is a universal human experience and the most common reason patients seek health care. This article describes barriers to effective, high-quality, evidence-informed pain care. Based on the clinical literature and pain specialists' survey results, the AMA Pain Care Task Force suggests strategies that clinicians can use to offer good pain care to patients. The task force also canvasses key policy-level concerns that situate clinicians in micro- and macro-level complexities related to payers, workforce and training demands, legal and regulatory questions, research, stigma, and patients' beliefs and expectations.