Pain and Medication Management
Making sure that our members are using their medications safely and effectively is one of our top priorities as a health plan. Here are some resources that you may reference to help support you as your patients manage their pain with and without the use of prescription drugs.
Alternative Pain Management
BMC HealthNet Plan offers several alternative methods for treating pain that do not require prescription medications. Some of the options available to members of our plan include the following:
Chiropractic care is limited to the care and treatment of disorders of the spine and neck as well as cervicogenic headaches. We cover the following outpatient services when they are administered by a licensed chiropractor:
- Spinal manipulation
- Diagnostic x-rays other than magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Computerized axial tomography (CT Scans), and other imaging tests
- Outpatient supportive medical treatment services.
If medically necessary, occupational therapy can be provided in the outpatient setting when applicable clinical review criteria are met. Therapeutic services provided by an occupational therapist would include:
- Therapeutic exercises (task-oriented activities designed to restore physical function, sensory-integrative function, functional status, and ability to complete ADLs)
- Compensatory techniques (i.e., used to improve the level of ability to perform ADLs such as teaching an amputee how to use a prosthetic device, teaching a stroke patient new techniques to perform ADLs, standing or balance training in order to perform ADLs following surgery, and/or restoration of the lost use of extremity to perform ADLs)
- CBT challenges members to replace unhelpful or negative thoughts, feelings and actions with more functional behaviors and coping strategies to solve problems; in use with pain management, it teaches relaxation, mindfulness and physical adaption skills to cope with the occurrence of physical pain, as well as challenges the thoughts related to pain.
Clinical Practice Guidelines
BMC HealthNet Plan adopts, endorses and implements these evidence-based guidelines from national sources, professional organizations, or developed by regional collaborative groups. Guidelines serve as a means of establishing standards among medical and behavioral health providers to improve health outcomes. They are not intended to replace clinical judgment.