Category Archives: News

A MESSAGE FROM PRCMG ON COVID-19

UPDATE: AS OF 3/24/20, PRCMG/NCFRP WILL REMAIN OPEN TO TREAT OUR PATIENTS VIA TELEHEALTH APPOINTMENTS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

 

Please Do Not come into the office unless otherwise directed by PRCMG/NCFRP staff. We encourage you to call your primary healthcare provider immediately if you have symptoms of respiratory illness, such as cough or difficulty breathing (check here — https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/index.html), OR you are at-risk (check here — https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html).

 

For over 20 years, Pain & Rehabilitative Consultants Medical Group’s mission has always been “to relieve suffering and improve quality of life.” This mission guides us, as we all try to navigate uncharted waters and face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

With this in mind, we realize that we are “essential” to our patients. The shelter at home  issued for Bay Area county residents identifies all healthcare operations as an ESSENTIAL BUSINESS and have encouraged such businesses to remain open. So, we have decided that PRCMG & NCFRP WILL REMAIN OPEN TO TREAT OUR PATIENTS.

 

We recognize that these are unsettling times, but we want you to know that, as always, our focus is on the safety and wellbeing of our staff and patients. On a day to day basis, we continue to monitor and follow the guidelines provided by the CDC and our government and local health authorities. In response, PRCMG & NCFRP have put in place several precautionary measures for our staff and patients as recommended by the CDC including, increased standard precautions and additional environmental cleaning and disinfecting protocols.

 

While this continues to be a challenging time for all of us, we also want to thank and recognize the overwhelming support of our clinical and administrative teams, who continue to provide the best possible care for our patients. 

 

If you have any questions, please contact us at our main number 510-647-5101.

 

NCFRP is a CARF Accredited Center of Excellence

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NCFRP was awarded the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization which shows the organization’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards. An organization receiving a Three-Year Accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process. It has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit its commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable, and of the highest quality.

“CARF-accredited service providers enjoy international recognition for their commitment to excellence. Third-party payers, governmental agencies, and the public at-large recognize CARF accreditation as a demonstration of accountability and conformance to internationally accepted standards that promote excellence in their services. CARF International accreditation provides a visible symbol that assures the public of a provider’s commitment to continually enhance the quality of services and programs with a focus on the satisfaction of the persons served.” – CARF.org

Fight the FLU this 2015 Season Newsletter

Fight the FLU this 2015 Season!

Flu is a serious contagious disease that can lead to hospitalization and even death. 

CDC urges you to take the following actions to protect yourself and others from influenza (the flu)

Step One

Take time to get a flu vaccine.

  • CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses.
  • While there are many different flu viruses, a flu vaccine protects against the three or four viruses that research suggests will be most common. (See upcoming season’s Vaccine Virus Selection for this season’s vaccine composition.)
  • Flu vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors’ visits, and missed work and school due to flu, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations and deaths.
  • Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine as soon as the current season’s vaccines are available.
  • Vaccination of high risk persons is especially important to decrease their risk of severe flu illness.
  • People at high risk of serious flu complications include young children, pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease and people 65 years and older.
  • Vaccination also is important for health care workers, and other people who live with or care for high risk people to keep from spreading flu to high risk people.
  • Children younger than 6 months are at high risk of serious flu illness, but are too young to be vaccinated. People who care for them should be vaccinated instead.

Step Two

Take everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of germs.

  • Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
  • If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)
  • While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them.
  • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
  • Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.
  • See Everyday Preventive Actions[257 KB, 2 pages] and Nonpharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) for more information about actions – apart from getting vaccinated and taking medicine – that people and communities can take to help slow the spread of illnesses like influenza (flu).

Step 3

Take flu antiviral drugs if your doctor prescribes them.

  • If you get the flu, antiviral drugs can treat your illness.
  • Antiviral drugs are different from antibiotics. They are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaled powder) and are not available over-the-counter.
  • Antiviral drugs can make illness milder and shorten the time you are sick. They may also prevent serious flu complications. For people with high risk factors[702 KB, 2 pages], treatment with an antiviral drug can mean the difference between having a milder illness versus a very serious illness that could result in a hospital stay.
  • Studies show that flu antiviral drugs work best for treatment when they are started within 2 days of getting sick, but starting them later can still be helpful, especially if the sick person has a high-risk health condition or is very sick from the flu. Follow your doctor’s instructions for taking this drug.
  • Flu-like symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people also may have vomiting and diarrhea. People may be infected with the flu, and have respiratory symptoms without a fever.

Visit CDC’s website to find out what to do if you get sick with the flu and how to care for someone at home who is sick with the flu.

You can find the article on the CDC website here.

Happy New Year’s

The entire team here at PRCMG would like to thank you for your continued confidence in us treating your clients. 

We are closing in on our 20th year in the business and could not be more grateful to have had the privilege to work with partners like you in helping our patients move forward and reclaim their lives. As the New Year unfolds, we are looking forward to carrying on our dedication to excellent service and quality care as well as working towards more improvements to make our processes even more efficient. 

NCFRP Outcome Measures Study

At NCFRP, we understand that finding a good Functional Restoration Program is a challenge. It’s all about finding the right program with the best outcomes. In 2013, NCFRP conducted an Outcomes Measure Study across multiple dimensions of functionality, reduction of pain and opioid use, psychosocial/psychological functioning, return to work are only some of the data points that we measured. The results were remarkable.

Read the detailed report in our Outcome Measures Study.

Patients completing the Northern California Functional Restoration Program (NCFRP) evidence clinically-significant improvement across multiple dimensions of functionality, reduction of pain opioid use, and psychosocial/psychological functioning. For NCFRP participants that sought employment post-program, a significantly high percentage of them were successful.

Our outcomes measures studies evidence that individuals treated at NCFRP:

  • Significantly improve physical functioning
  • Improve emotional well-being; including depressive and anxiety-related symptoms
  • Improve experiential functioning: better participation in activities-of-daily living, greater participation in desired social activities, and greater quality of interactions with significant others
  • Have reduced reliance on opioid medications and other pain-related medications
  • Have significantly high return-to-work rate and adaptive changes to stationary/permanent status

Summary Highlights:

  • Permanent & Stationary Status: 96% of participants were Permanent & Stationary post-NCFRP
  • Reduction of Prescribed Opioid Dosage: 24% average reduction in opioid medication dosage post-NCFRP
  • Return-to-work Rate: 71% of those seeking to return to work were successful post-NCFRP

P&S StatusRTW and Opioid