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Analysis on chronic pain management: Focus on the Italian network
Author(s) -
Amato Francesco,
Ceniti Silvia,
Laurita Sara,
Pasceri Erika,
Guarasci Roberto,
Parisi Francesca,
Parrilla Luciano,
Panizzoli Giuseppina,
Perri Anna
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the international journal of health planning and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-1751
pISSN - 0749-6753
DOI - 10.1002/hpm.3075
Subject(s) - palliative care , protocol (science) , pain management , health care , medicine , order (exchange) , nursing , chronic pain , business , organizational structure , process (computing) , medical emergency , physical therapy , alternative medicine , political science , computer science , law , finance , pathology , operating system
The Italian Law 38/2010, ‘Dispositions to guarantee access to Palliative Care and Pain Management’ orders that the health care systems of Italian regions create dedicated structures for palliative care and pain therapies, according to a specific organizational model called ‘Hub‐Spoke’, to ensure the diagnostic‐therapeutic continuity of patients affected by chronic pain (CP). The aim of our study was to investigate the Italian pain therapy network, 8 years following the approval of the Law. We sent a questionnaire to the national health representatives operating in CP management. The main result emerging from the analysis concerns the management of mini‐invasive procedures, showing that 93.2% of the responding facilities carry out invasive procedures, 6.8% do not perform them and that 100% of the facilities belonging to 12 regions provided these procedures, while in eight regions more than 80%. Finally, only 38.5% of facilities declared to have a shared protocol with the relevant territorial facilities in order to guarantee the process of care and assistance of patients affected by CP. In conclusion, our study demonstrated the efficacy of the organizational model in most of the responding facilities, although the territorial management of patients after their hospital discharge should be strengthened.