Pain Management as a Predictor of Patient Satisfaction in the Emergency Department

Patient satisfaction has become an increasingly important metric of quality of care and of the patient experience. It has also become an important driver of reimbursement for provider services. Components of patient satisfaction include provision of timely care, keeping the patient and their families apprised of the progress of their diagnostic work-up and treatment, cleanliness of the environment, responsiveness of the treatment team, as well as relief of pain and discomfort. In an era of increasing patient expectations of care, as well as the recent epidemic of opiate abuse, the emergency provider is presented with clinical challenges which did not exist until recently.