title: TelePain: A Community of Practice for Pain Management.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Comprehensive pain management services are primarily located in urban areas, limiting specialist consultation opportunities for community healthcare providers. A community of practice (CoP) for pain management could create opportunities for consultation by establishing professional relationships between community healthcare providers and pain management specialists. A CoP is a group of people with a common concern, set of problems, or a passion for something they do. Members of a CoP for pain management increase their knowledge of evidence-based pain management strategies in a way that is meaningful and relevant. In this article, we provide evidence that TelePain, an interdisciplinary, case-based pain management teleconference consultation program through the University of Washington, qualifies as a CoP and present preliminary evidence of TelePain's effectiveness as a CoP for pain management.
  
  
  METHODS
  Specific behaviors and conversations gathered through participant observation during TelePain sessions were analyzed based on the 14 indicators Wegner developed to evaluate the presence of a CoP. To demonstrate preliminary effectiveness of TelePain as a CoP for pain management, descriptive statistics were used to summarize TelePain evaluation forms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  TelePain is an example of a successful CoP for pain management as demonstrated by the presence of Wegner's 14 indicators. Additionally, evaluation forms showed that TelePain enhanced community healthcare providers' knowledge of pain management strategies and that continued participation in TelePain lead to community healthcare providers' increased confidence in their ability to provide pain management.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TelePain, a CoP for pain management, facilitates multidisciplinary collaboration and allows members to develop interdisciplinary care plans for complex pain patients through case study discussions. Evidence-based pain management strategies gained through CoP membership could be disseminated to other healthcare providers in members' clinics, which has the potential of improving the care of chronic pain patients.
authors.affiliation: Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems Department, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Alexa R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Meins
authors.affiliation: Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems Department, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA ; Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Ardith Z
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Doorenbos
authors.affiliation: Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems Department, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.affiliation: Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems Department, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA ; Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Theodore
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tauben
keywords: Community of practice; Pain management; Rural healthcare; Telehealth