[Interdisciplinarity and chronic pain therapy--implementation of a new Interdisciplinary Center at the University Hospital Dresden on the basis of an integrated health care contract].

Due to the bio-psycho-social complexity and presence of various health departments, chronic pain requires interdisciplinary cooperation which enables the accurate evaluation of the clinical findings and is a prerequisite for an individual and resource-oriented therapeutic concept focusing on both physical and mental activation. This concept forms the basis of medical care at the University Pain Center, which was founded in April 2004 at the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital in Dresden. Since then, day care and inpatient services have been provided in addition to well-established outpatient care. The motive behind the foundation of the Pain Center was to sensitize health insurers to the complex problems of chronic pain and existing regional structural deficits. Following a draft version of a coherent multimodal, interdisciplinary healthcare concept along with full cost accounting after 1 1/2 years, an integrative healthcare contract got signed by two health insurances (AOK-Sachsen and VdAK) in June 2004. After two years of existence, the first experiences, results and especially the Pain Center's treatment spectrum ought to be demonstrated.