Beliefs About a Complementary and Alternative Therapy-Based Chronic Pain Management Program for a Medicaid Population.

Objective: Rhode Island Medicaid offers high emergency department utilizers the opportunity to take part in the Chronic Pain Program, an integrated treatment approach that includes free complementary therapies (massage, chiropractic, and acupuncture). The aim of the current analysis was to understand beliefs about the Rhode Island Chronic Pain Program from the perspective of the patient receiving services, the provider delivering services, and the administrator implementing the program.

Design: A qualitative interview-based study.

Correlation of digital health use and chronic pain coping strategies.

Background: Digital health is an increasingly popular tool for patient engagement, having shown great success in arenas such as medication adherence, management of chronic conditions, and patient safety. Given the growth of chronic pain diagnoses, it is imperative to find new technologies to improve care for this particular population. Little research has catalogued the use of digital health in the chronic pain patient population.

A Pilot Study of Rapid Hepatitis C Testing in Probation and Parole Populations in Rhode Island.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects between five and seven million individuals in the United States and chronic infection can lead to liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Probation/parole offices are a novel setting for rapid HCV testing, providing outreach to populations at increased risk for HCV infection and/or transmitting HCV to others. While some correctional facilities offer HCV testing, many individuals who present to probation/parole offices are never or briefly incarcerated and may not access medical services.

A pilot study of rapid hepatitis C virus testing in the Rhode Island Department of Corrections.

Background: The correctional population bears a heavy burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection necessitating expansion of HCV testing and treatment opportunities. Rapid HCV testing provides point-of-care antibody results and may be ideal for correctional facilities, particularly jails, where persons are often incarcerated for short periods of time, yet feasibility has not been established.

Methods: We conducted a pilot study of a rapid HCV testing algorithm among short-term inmates with unknown HCV status.