PPTC's Expectation Of Care Document
Back to Patient Information

Pacific Pain Treatment Centers (PPTC) is dedicated to Interdisciplinary, ethical caring of the patient with chronic pain regardless of race, color, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, or national origin. Agreed upon expectations of patient and the clinic ensure that this clinic will meet the needs of all of our patients. With this understanding, this clinic wants all of our patients to know and understand the following:
  1. PPTC is an Interdisciplinary pain treatment center requiring evaluation by all members of the pain team including PPTC's psychologists before treatment will begin.
  2. You will not be seen on your first visit without medical records being released to PPTC by your referring physician.
  3. No treatment, including pain medications, will be prescribed by PPTC to you on your first visit to PPTC. If you are in need of a prescription please make sure that your referring physicians refills it.
  4. If you are under the care of a psychiatrist or psychologist you must give permission for release of those records to the psychologists at PPTC.
  5. After initial evaluations by the members of the pain team at PPTC, you will be notified of our care and treatment plan.
  6. PPTC may, after this initial evaluation, decide that treatment at PPTC is not warranted or appropriate. In this eventuality, you will be referred back to your referring physician, adjustor or attorney.
  7. Once, upon completion of all evaluations, your treatment plan has been determined and agreed upon by you and the treatment team, you will be expected to follow it. You have the right to refuse treatment at any time, however, if you do refuse treatment, your decision may result in your being referred back to your referring physician, adjustor, or attorney.
  8. Patients of PPTC are not allowed to take their PPTC prescribed medications as they deem necessary; All patients receiving medications prescribed by PPTC must take their medications as prescribed.
  9. You will be given a medication contract to sign before any and all analgesic medications will be prescribed. This contract outlines, the responsibilities of the clinic to you and your responsibilities to the clinic regarding the prescription of pain medications.
  10. PPTC believes that chronic pain is never an emergency! Therefore, the clinic will not approve of your visiting emergency rooms for treatment of your chronic pain. However, you are encouraged to do so in the case of a new emergent pain, side effects of prescribed pain medications or treatment, or medical emergency.
  11. Telephone calls for chronic pain complaints during evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays will not be tolerated. Patients complaining of a new pain, side effects of their medications or treatment, or true medical emergency are encouraged to call the physician or nurse practitioner on call or call 911 if your problem is truly an emergency.
  12. You must agree to receive your pain medications from one pharmacy registered with the clinic.. PPTC must be notified in advance of any planned change in pharmacy.
  13. You must agree not to accept pain medications from any physician not associated with PPTC unless prescribed by that physician during a hospital stay or for outpatient or inpatient surgery.
  14. You are to be responsible for your medications. No excuses for lost medication, stolen medication, dropped medication, etc. will be accepted by the pain team. This means that no refills will be made before the allotted time of the prescription.
  15. No refills of medications will be made after office hours, during weekends, or during a holiday period. You must be responsible for your own medications and make an appointment for a refill of your pain medication before that medication will run out.
  16. Telephone refills are discouraged. The clinic will make every effort to ensure that you will not run out of medications. If you know that you are going to run out of your medications, you are responsible for making an appointment for refill of the medications during normal office hours.
  17. If you are on chronic narcotic medications, you must understand that PPTC will allow you to go through narcotic withdrawal from your medications should you manage these medications irresponsibly.

    Irresponsible management of opioid medications includes, but is not limited to:

    • Overuse of medication without approval of the medical staff of PPTC
    • Excuse for loss or stolen medications on more than one occasion
    • Running out early

  18. All of your questions will be answered by one of our professional staff at scheduled appointments. Unless there is an emergency. You are requested not to call the clinic to have your clinical questions answered.
  19. Because of the increasing demands on PPTC for pain management services, you must understand that the attending physician might not be present during your visit to the clinic. You might be seen by one of the clinic's nurse practitioners, physician assistants or fellows in training. Attending physicians, however, will make all final decisions regarding your care plans.
  20. Failure to abide by these above understandings will be taken by the clinic to mean that you either no longer want to be treated by the clinic or that you will not abide by the rules of the clinic. In either case, failure to abide might be cause for dismissal from the clinic and referral back to your referring physician for pain care.
Back to Patient Information