Choosing the Right Treatment for Pain

Game-changing care provides patients with more options for addressing musculoskeletal pain

CNBC Sponsored Content—April 13, 2017

CNBC writes on the game-changing care for addressing musculoskeletal pain at Hospital for Special Surgery.

"We're solving a problem, solving a puzzle," said Hollis G. Potter, MD, chair of the department of radiology at HSS. "If you come in with shoulder pain, my role in your care is to figure it out and show the surgeon or your clinician exactly what's wrong with your shoulder." She continued, "what I'm trying to avoid is your surgeon in the recovery room looking at his shoes and saying, 'I'm really sorry, but we didn't expect to find this and I had to do another operation.' And suddenly you're faced with a very different rehab that you didn't expect."

Todd J. Albert, MD, surgeon-in-chief at HSS, said "I always say to patients, you can always do surgery, but you can't very easily undo surgery. Getting the right diagnosis the first time leads to a lot of efficiency, value and the correct treatment the first time."

For patients who had a joint replacement surgery, Dr. Potter was one of the earliest doctors to realize MR imaging was safe and "provided important clinical information." The MR imaging is used to improve patient outcomes by detecting early signs of artificial joint failure.

"We have technology that's very sophisticated and individuals who are very skilled," said HSS president and CEO Louis A. Shapiro.

HSS chief value medical officer, Catherine H. MacLean, MD, PhD, said "we provide really high quality radiographic and imaging evaluation. We're able to detect things that might not have been detected on a low quality study. This facilitates rapid diagnosis and the right treatment."

Robert N. Hotchkiss, MD, medical director of clinical research at HSS, commented on how cohesively he works with Dr. Potter to think of the best treatment plan for patients. "Frequently, I'll just go over to her office," he said.

Douglas E. Padgett, MD, chief of the adult reconstruction and joint replacement service at HSS, will also reach out to Dr. Potter when unexpected findings are noted. "I can assure my patients that they are receiving top-flight comprehensive musculoskeletal care."

Read the full article at CNBC.com. Catch up on the first and second installments.