Interventional Spine and Pain Procedure Credentialing: Guidelines from the American Society of Pain & Neuroscience

BACKGROUND: The discipline of interventional pain management has changed significantly over the past decade with an expected greater evolution in the next decade. Not only have the number of procedures increased, some of the procedures that were created for spine surgeons are becoming more facile in the hands of the interventional pain physician. Such change has outpaced academic institutions, societies, and boards. When a pain physician is in the credentialing process for novel procedure privileges, it can leave the healthcare system in a challenging situation with little to base their decision upon. METHODS: This paper was developed by a consensus working group from the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience from various disciplines. The goal was to develop processes and resources to aid in the credentialing process. RESULTS: These guidelines from the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience provide background information to help facilities create a process to appropriately credential physicians on novel procedures. They are not intended to serve as a standard or legal precedent. CONCLUSION: This paper serves as a guide for facilities to credential physicians on novel procedures.