The Assessments Could Be Used To Develop A National Treatment Policy.

WASHINGTON - How to you ease a patient's persistent, severe pain? Soon, the federal government hopes to find an answer.

Beginning in January, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will do what few health-care providers have done. It will assess a patient's pain as it gauges other vital signs, such as temperature, blood pressure and pulse.

Veterans facilities, ranging from hospitals to nursing homes to clinics, will use the assessments to develop long term strategies for treating both chronic and acute pain.

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