Register for free to
view the full innovation profile.
This novel, electronic clinical pain assessment tool utilizes a timebased medium, animation, that can be calibrated by patients to express the dynamic and multidimensional aspects
About
Background: Pain is the number one reason people access the healthcare system and costs the nation up to $635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity, more than cardiovascular disease, cancer or diabetes. When inadequately managed, pain can lead to adverse medical or mental health conditions. Accurate assessment of pain symptoms is critical to providing the appropriate pain treatment and quality care. Currently, however, the clinical assessment of pain is inadequate and for patients, the pain experience is challenging to communicate and there has been little advancement in pain assessment tools recently. Technology: Through a human-centered design study, that involves active consultation with people/stakeholders during all phases of research and development, a pain communication and assessment tool was designed that the innovators call Expressive Painimation. This novel, electronic clinical pain assessment tool utilizes a timebased medium, animation, that can be calibrated by patients to express the dynamic and multidimensional aspects of their pain experience. Painimation is a tool that can be used in the health care setting at the point of care, or by patients at home to record their pain symptoms remotely. Painimation does not replace the patient-provider conversation but rather facilitates it by supporting patient’s verbal description of their pain with a visual representation. Painimation does not rely on words as descriptors of pain, so language is no longer a barrier to care. With Painimation, the qualitative reporting of pain is as important as the quantitative report. Painimation is personalized to the patient and his or her pain thresholds, there are no limitations, maximums or minimums. And because time is limited, Painimation assesses pain quickly but effectively. Application: 1. Qualitative pain assessment 2. Patient reported outcome 3. Providers can use to diagnose neuropathis versus nociceptive pain Stage of Development: Prototype web based tool developed