MDNews - Greater Kansas

treatments, interventional procedures and medication management, to help provide pain relief. The practice's website lists more than three dozen forms of inter- ventional treatments and procedures it offers, ranging from an epidural blood patch to various injections to different forms of nerve blocks. " We combine the latest and greatest with the tried and true," Dr. Parks says. W hile Dr. Fluter focuses primarily on ha nd ling workers' compensation care, Dr. Parks spends most of his time in the practice's two fluoroscopy suites, he says. Each suite is outfitted with a C-arm used for intraoperative imaging during minimally invasive procedures. Surgeries are done off-site. As the practice approaches its third decade, Dr. Parks and his staff are considering options to expand APMA. Dr. Pa rks says A PM A ha s been a s "opioid-spa ring " as possible from its start in 2000. "We've been on the forefront of that," he says. Even before K-TR ACS, Kansas' inter- net-based prescription drug monitoring database, was launched about a decade ago, APMA had established a reputation of limiting opioid prescriptions, he says. The fact that opioids impair a patient's functionality runs contrary to the prac- tice's objective of helping patients regain a better quality of life. "Pharmacies knew how stringent we were in prescribing them," Dr. Pa rks says. It wasn't unusua l to have a loca l pharmacist check with the practice if one of his or her patients was trying to fill an opioid prescription from another practice, he says. For patients with severe chronic pain, the practice will look to opioid alternatives, such as implantable pain management devices or adjunctive medication. One form of treatment, so to speak, has become a patient favorite: the practice's four primary therapy dogs, led by Lollie Pop, 14, and three younger male German shor t ha ired pointers na med D yson, George and Tucker. " We tel l patient s we t a ke ca re of everything from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet," Dr. Parks says. "We aren't focused on one area." That means seeing patients who deal with all forms of pain: diabetic neuropathy, facial pain, headaches, joint pain, cancer pain, post-stroke pain and more. In genera l, ma ny patients see pa in physicians for back or spine-related pain, and that's a primary reason many patients are referred to APMA, Dr. Parks says. He estimates that as many as 4 out of every 5 patients at APMA see him or his staff for that sort of pain. APMA offers a comprehensive range of treatments, including interventional Amanda Mitchell, RN, BSN, Rebecca Wiseman, RN, BSN, Jana Garrels, RN, BSN, MA, and Annette Newell RN, BSN Zachary Castor, PA-C, evaluating a patient M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S G R E AT E R K A N S A S ■ 2 019 0 9

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