The national guidelines for the management of acute pain emphasize that effective pain management can and will produce improved patient outcomes. As such, many healthcare organizations have implemented quality improvement programs to contend with this issue. In 1994, St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco, California, established the Pain Management Program to provide education to clinicians and patients on managing pain. Unlike many programs of this kind, resources were limited to those available in a community hospital, including clinical and community volunteers and, since 1997, one full-time employee. Program goals emphasized improving patient outcomes. The data collected have shown that improvements have been made in patient satisfaction levels and clinician pain management practices with a degree of success matching that of many larger, well-funded programs found throughout the United States.
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