The American Pain Society (APS) announced the recipients of its second annual Clinical Centers of Excellence (CCOE) in Pain Management Awards, recognizing the nation's outstanding pain care centers. Six multidisciplinary pain programs were recognized, including the Richard Barrett Pain Management

Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH; the Pediatric Pain Management Center at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland; the Productive Rehabilitation Institute of Dallas for Ergonomics in Texas; the Stanford Pain Center in Palo Alto, CA; the University of Minnesota Fairview Pain and Palliative Care Center in Minneapolis; and the University of Wisconsin Health Pain Care Services in Madison.

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Forty-nine applications were judged by a panel of prominent pain management experts. APS established the program in 2006 to recognize progressive teams of health professionals who address critical, sometimes unmet, needs in pain management within their communities. Multidisciplinary programs in the United States offering direct patient care in pain management are eligible to apply. Award recipients were honored at a gala on May 8, 2008, at the APS Annual Scientific Conference in Tampa, FL.

"In our second year, the Clinical Centers Excellence Awards drew applicants from every part of the country with excellent performance in relieving suffering and restoring everyday function to those whose lives are burdened with persistent pain," said APS President Judith Paice, PhD, RN, FAAN, director, cancer pain program, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and ONS member.

A recurring quality of leading pain programs, according to Paice, is success in helping patients enhance overall function and quality of life. "Combining cognitive-behavioral and physical therapies with medications and other approaches is the major advantage of the multidisciplinary approach. We treat the whole person, not just the pain. The award recipients and other centers are proving every day that integrated, multidisciplinary pain care yields the best long-term outcomes medically, psychologically, and socially," she said.

APS is a multidisciplinary community that brings together a diverse group of scientists, clinicians, and other professionals to increase the knowledge of pain and transform public policy and clinical practice to reduce pain-related suffering.

For more information, visit www.ampainsoc.org.

Diane M. Otte, RN, MS, OCN[R]

Associate Editor