Patients with any of the clinical presentations/conditions listed below are excellent candidates for referral to the pain medicine specialists of
Valley Pain Consultants for appropriate, ethical and comprehensive evaluation:
Treatment-based "trigger points" for referral to pain medicine
- Any time the physician feels uncomfortable with the patient's clinical progress or medication use
- Patient on stable opioid analgesic pain medication who states it is no longer effective, or patient requiring a medication switch
- Lack of response to physical therapy after 4-6 visits or 30-45 days
- consider referral to VPC for confirmatory diagnosis and evaluation prior to physical therapy
Condition-based "trigger points" for referral
- Radicular arm or leg pain from the neck or low back, if associated with extremity sensory or motor changes
- consider immediate referral
- Residual pain after neck or low back surgery, regardless of when the surgery occurred
- Neuropathic pain, particularly of the upper or lower extremities
- Pain that limits function and activity, including
- headache, vertebral compression fracture, spasticity, non-malignant cancer pain
- New onset weakness/sensory deficits in upper or lower extremities
Time-based "trigger points" for referral
- New (acute) pain lasting more than one month, or still not resolving at follow-up visit
- Pain that requires short-acting opioid for longer than 1-2 months
* A pain medicine specialist should possess the training and certification listed below :
- ACGME-accredited fellowship in Pain Medicine
- American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) board certification and subspecialty certification in Pain Medicine from the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA)
Yes, Valley Pain Consultants is a referral-based practice; therefore, a referral is required for our office to successfully schedule the patient.
Yes, referring offices receive confirmation when Valley Pain Consultants is able to schedule an appointment with your patient.
Valley's staff will ensure your patient is scheduled with the Valley Pain Consultants' physician that best fits the needs/condition of the patient.
Yes, Valley Pain Consultants is a partnership, comprised of interventional pain management specialists who provide care for patients with chronic pain conditions in a team-oriented environment, focused on accelerating your patient's path to enhanced functionality. Within our team of pain physicians, we have several physicians who perform advanced interventional pain management procedures (Spinal Cord Stimulation, Intrathecal Pain Pumps, MILD). Patients whose conditions warrant these types of advanced procedures will be referred to a Valley pain specialist who performs them.
Valley's scheduling team and physicians take great pride in maintaining scheduling flexibility to accommodate our referring offices' patients. Please contact the appropriate office for special situations as they arise; our schedulers will do everything possible to expedite your patient's appointment.
Yes, as a service to our referring practices, we offer appropriate medication management to patients. Valley providers have developed an effective program to provide care for medication management patients. Our providers' goal is to reduce patients' dependence on controlled substances.
Additionally, Valley maintains the highest standards of compliance with state and federal regulations and adherence/ monitoring protocols. Valley physicians will also provide consultation to referring practices to assist them in the management of patients prescribed controlled substances, upon request.