Pain Management and Opioid Prescribing

Members & Publications

Visit AAPM&R's Pain Management advocacy page to explore more resources.

During the public health emergency (PHE), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) adopted policies providing flexibility for physicians managing patients with pain and opioid use disorder. These flexibilities allow DEA-registered practitioners to prescribe controlled substances without having to interact in-person with their patients. The policies remain in effect for the duration of the PHE, unless DEA specifies an earlier date.

This flowchart from the DEA describes how to Prescribe Controlled Substances to Patients During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

Resources for managing pain and prescribing opioids during the COVID-19 PHE and subsequent surges (please note that not all documents are formally endorsed by the Academy:

Pain Management Best Practices from Multi-Specialty Organizations During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Public Health Crisis was just published as an accepted manuscript in Pain Medicine on April 7. AAPM&R collaborated with the American Academy of Pain Medicine and several other pain management-related societies. (April 2020)

Current Recommendations for Outpatient Musculoskeletal and Pain Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic From Gene Tekmyster, DO, FAAPMR; Maxim Moradian, MD; David W. Lee, MD, FAAPMR; Shounuck I. Patel, DO, MMS, FAAPMR; Gerard A. Malanga, MD, FAAPMR; Gary P. Chimes, MD, PhD, FAAPMR; Rahul Desai, MD; Jaspal R. Singh, MD, FAAPMR; Prathap Jayaram, MD, FAAPMR (March 2020)
How Coronavirus (COVID-19) Affects Your Interventional Procedure – a document for patients created by David W. Lee, MD, FAAPMR (March 2020)

Quick Links

Dedicated pages for:

Additional Practice Management Resources for you including hot topics such as:

A snapshot of how AAPM&R is advocating for and supporting physiatrists can also be found here as well as a full listing of upcoming and recorded webinars.

If you can't find what you need or would like additional support, we're here to help. Contact us at (847) 737-6000 or email covidresponse@aapmr.org.

*Note: For all content created by Hart Health Strategies, a Washington D.C.-based firm that provides federal regulatory/quality advocacy support services to complement initiatives and efforts of AAPM&R. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of AAPM&R.