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Most pain can be relieved. That is the message of scientific reports and national guidelines. Yet pain continues to be undertreated. To help address this discrepancy, PainLink at Education Development Center, Inc., has been cultivating innovative pain management practices at hospitals and nursing homes in 25 states. PainLink was established with the generous support of the Mayday Fund. Since 1996, PainLink has created a collaborative, interdisciplinary community whose mission is to improve pain management in institutions. Each PainLink team is committed to closing the gap between knowledge and practice. Through technical assistance and the exchange of ideas, PainLink institutions have been successful in developing policies and procedures to ensure that pain is systematically diagnosed, assessed, and treated. Sites are encouraged to use continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes to evaluate pain management in their settings and to make an action plan specific to each institution's needs. Currently, 23 sites are receiving active technical assistance and another 33 sites are PainLink alumni. We are confident that the systems and strategies developed with help from PainLink will lead to more effective health care, more comfortable patients, and - in many cases - lower health care costs.

In 2001 the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations will require compliance with new standards for pain management. Will your institution be ready? PainLink can offer you expert resources.

PRACTICAL TOOLS AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

PainLink has distinguished itself by offering a website with resources for PainLink members, including a list serve, on-line events, and technical assistance. These services provide invaluable help in defining institutional goals, bridging barriers and marshaling the support of health care professionals throughout the country who have already made progress toward change. PainLink is a source of ideas, educational strategies and models of change. It's a forum for sharing successes and strengthening interdisciplinary teambuilding. But it's also more - PainLink fosters collaboration and encouragement among teams. PainLink cultivates the kind of thinking that can persuade institutions to open themselves to new and better ways of caring for patients.

PainLink members receive expert technical assistance including access to a survey, data analysis, and a series of consultations with PainLink staff. PainLink takes pride in the depth of its staff's expertise in clinical pain management, organizational change, professional education, institutional needs assessment, action planning, and outcomes measurement. We work with you by building on your institution's existing strengths and identifying practical starting places to improve the quality of pain management.

PainLink staff will work with you closely as you:

• Develop your interdisciplinary pain management leadership team: A core group of nurses, physicians, pharmacists, quality improvement and other staff committed to improving pain management is needed to serve as an interdisciplinary leadership team for your institution. Your PainLink team will take overall responsibility for the project and will be in regular contact with the EDC staff.
• Assess your institution's needs and priorities: The PainLink project has a survey available to enable you to evaluate your institution's strengths and weaknesses. EDC PainLink staff will analyze the data and will supply the results in a graphic format suitable for presentation.
• Establish a plan to improve pain management: Profile data alone cannot change practice - institutions need to use the information to make a difference in the way pain is assessed and treated. EDC PainLink staff will work with your team to identify specific changes likely to improve pain management.
• Implement your plan: Once your action plan is developed, you will begin to put into place an infrastructure to ensure that pain management improvements are sustainable. EDC PainLink staff will work with you and your institution to develop strategies for promoting your pain initiative and to address such issues as resistance or changes in leadership that affect your PainLink team's work.
• Evaluate your outcomes: EDC will recommend strategies you can use to measure the impact of your efforts on health care professionals and your institution, and most importantly, on patients and their families.
• Report your successes: The EDC PainLink staff will assist you in your efforts to make your results public. Throughout the one-year enrollment period, EDC PainLink staff will be available for consultation and support.Report your successes: The EDC PainLink staff will assist you in your efforts to make your results public. Throughout the one-year enrollment period, EDC PainLink staff will be available for consultation and support.

CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION

To be selected for participation, institutions must:

• Show evidence of senior administrative support and institutional commitment to pain management;
• Support administration of the Pain Management Inventory available through EDC, Inc. (a survey completed by clinicians) or demonstrate that a survey has been done to measure clinicians' pain management knowledge and institutional factors that affect pain management;
• Designate at least four staff members as an interdisciplinary pain management leadership team; this team must include representatives from nursing, medicine, pharmacy and quality improvement, but teams typically have more members from other disciplines and departments;
• Have access to, or be willing to establish, Internet communication capabilities;
• Be willing to make a year-long commitment to collaborate with PainLink participants to change practice.

APPLICATION AND PARTICIPATION FEES

Enrollment is for one year. The fee for the first year of participation is $17,500. This includes administration of the Pain Management Inventory, analysis and presentation-ready results; regular technical assistance from PainLink staff; print and electronic TA materials; and access to the member pages of the PainLink website, on-line events, and an email discussion list. Institutions may re-enroll for a reduced fee pending demonstration of progress in implementing their action plans to improve pain management.