The future of pain management in managed care.

Pain management has made great strides in clinical practice and education, and in research documenting its effectiveness on pain relief, functional improvement, and cost. The profile of pain in managed care settings has recently been raised, notably because of the trend toward replacing inexpensive generic drugs with new and expensive drugs for pain treatment. Managed care organizations have greater motivation to focus on pain care because of recent regulatory initiatives, new accreditation standards, and legal precedents. In order for pain programs to improve the quality of pain care in MCOs, they must balance the complex needs of patients with pain with the financial constraints of the managed care setting.