Ira D. Kornbluth, MD, Mitchell K. Freedman, DO, Michele Y. Holding, MD, E. Anthony Overton, DO, Michael F. Saulino, MD

This self-directed learning module highlights the monitoring of progress and compliance in chronic pain management. It is part of the chapter on chronic pain in the Self-Directed Physiatric Education Program for practitioners in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Specifically, the first module focuses on the use of pain rating scales to monitor progress, and the second and third learning objectives focus on evaluating abuse potential and interpreting drug screens. The fourth objective discusses issues pertaining to closure of a workers’ compensation complaint, including when to declare that a patient meets the requirements for the designation maximal medical improvement.

Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation 1 March 2008 (volume 89 issue 3 Pages S51-S55 DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2007.12.009)