Notice about Seattle Pain Center

Effective immediately, Molina patients are no longer able to receive pain management services through Seattle Pain Center.

We hope you will continue care for your patients impacted by the termination of Seattle Pain Center services, rather than refer patients to someone else for their prescription refills or ongoing care.  

Please note that prescriptions written by providers at Seattle Pain Centers, who have not had action taken on their licenses, will continue to be paid for at least 30 days to enable smooth transitions of care. We recognize that providers may have concerns about violating the Washington Pain Rules surrounding patients taking more than 120 MEDS. Please know that safeguards are in place given the time sensitivity surrounding this sudden contract termination. Please see Exhibit 1 below.

To support you in this process, several resources are available to you:

  • The University of Washington Division of Pain Medicine offers a virtual TelePain program to support primary care providers throughout the Pacific Northwest who treat patients with chronic pain. UW’s TelePain program significantly increases access to inter-professional experts who provide real-time support in the care and treatment of chronic pain patients. The program consists of weekly audio and videoconference-based consultation with experts in the management of challenging chronic pain problems. Clinicians are invited to present difficult chronic pain cases to UW’s TelePain panel or ask questions even if you do not present a case. Additionally, one week each month is dedicated to addiction case presentations. For general information about the TelePain program, to sign up for a TelePain conference, or to submit a request for a case review, please access the link below. There will be no cost to you for participating in this program.
  • Consultation with the UW TelePain service or another pain provider will meet the requirements of the State Pain Rules.
  • Click here to sign up for a TelePain conference.

    • Schedule of upcoming tentative meetings:

    20-Jul-16 Addiction Treatment Joseph Merrill, MD
    27-Jul-16 Functional Assessment Jim Robinson, MD
    03-Aug-16 Motivational Interviewing with Goal Setting Joseph Merrill, MD
    10-Aug-16 TBD TBD
    17-Aug-16 CBT for Chronic Pain Joseph Merrill, MD
    24-Aug-16 Pain in Pediatrics Gary Walco, PhD
    31-Aug-16 Medical Marijuana Greg Carter, MD

     

    http://depts.washington.edu/anesth/care/pain/telepain/
  • The CDC Guideline for managing chronic pain provides guidance for managing ‘legacy’ patients who transfer care on high dose opioids.
    https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/rr6501e1.htm
  • The Agency Medical Directors’ Group (AMDG) also has guidelines that may be used to help manage these patients including the use of Naloxone for patients on 90 MED or greater.
    http://www.agencymeddirectors.wa.gov/Files/2015AMDGOpioidGuideline.pdf
  • Patients with a substance use disorder can be referred to the Washington Recovery Help Line at (866) 789-1511 / (206) 461-3219 TTY or www.warecoveryhelpline.org

Additional suggestions for monitoring patients on pain management:

  • Monitor the Washington State Prescription Monitoring Program (PDMP) for multiple prescribers. If you suspect multiple prescribers, please refer patients to Molina’s Patient Review Coordination (PRC) Committee at MHWPR&C@MolinaHealthCare.Com
  • For select patients with multiple medical problems and on high doses of opioid and/or if there is a concern for a substance use disorder, contact Molina’s Case Management for additional resources at (425) 398-2618.
  • Resources and updates will be posted on the Molina website.
  • Molina will host two webinar sessions to provide updates and answer questions.

    Webinar Session 1:
    Date: Friday, July 22, 2016
    Time: 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
    Dial-in: US Toll-Free 855-665-4629
    Access Code: 800 942 381

    Webinar Session 2:
    Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2016
    Time: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.
    Dial-in: US Toll-Free 855-665-4629
    Access Code: 801 335 415

EXHIBIT 1

Washington Pain Rules from the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA)

Providers may have concerns about violating the WA Pain Rules by accepting the care of patients on more than 120 MEDs. While consultation with a pain specialist would be ideal in this circumstance, the authors of the Pain Rules recognized this may not always be an option. As such, the Rules outline the components of appropriate chronic pain management:


The Pain Rules also allow for telemedicine consultation. Additional support has been provided to the UW TelePain program for patients on Apple Health, a free service that supports primary care providers in the management of patients who are complex or on high dose opioids. Information about UW TelePain can be found at:


The Pain Rules and FAQs about their interpretation can be found at:


Additional Links