Pain Center FAQs

The Pain Center at Kansas Spine & Specialty Hospital is located on the west side of the Kansas Spine campus, inside the Abay Neuroscience Center building, at 3223 N. Webb Road, Suite 3. Enter the Abay lobby and you’ll find the Pain Center reception desk straight ahead in the rear of the lobby.

The Pain Center office hours are Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

We can be contacted at 316-462-5072 during regular business hours. We are not an emergency center, so please contact 911 or seek emergency care for urgent needs.

At the Pain Center, we accept most insurance plans. While most insurance plans should cover our pain management services, we recommend that you contact your insurance company prior to your first appointment to determine your insurance eligibility. If we can be of assistance, please contact our billing department at 316-462-5072.

Insurance providers we accept include, but are not limited to:

• Aetna
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas
• Blue Cross Blue Shield Plan 65
• Blue Cross Blue Shield – Out of state
• Cigna HeathCare
• Coventry
• Coventry Advantra
• First Health
• Humana
• Medicaid
• Medicare
• Railroad Medicare
• TRICARE/TriWest – VA Choice and Active Duty Railroad Medicare
• United Healthcare
• VA
• Wichita Preferred Provider Association

With today’s technological advancements in imaging systems and diagnostic techniques, our pain management specialists can get to the root of your chronic or acute pain. An accurate diagnosis is essential to tailoring an effective treatment plan for your individual needs.

Utilizing a patient-centered approach, our pain management specialists work together with our in-house radiologists, nurses and physical therapists to evaluate, diagnose and treat complex pain syndromes and post-injury pain.

We’ll obtain your medical history, conduct a physical evaluation and order appropriate testing, which could include any or a combination of the following:

• CT scan
• X-Ray
• MRI
• Electromyogram (EMG)
• Discography

Please arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time. As a new patient of the Pain Center, you’ll be required to complete some new patient forms. Please also bring your photo ID, insurance card and any medications you’re currently taking.

Your first appointment at the Pain Center is the most important one. Gathering full details about your condition and symptoms will be essential to proper diagnosis and treatment. Your pain management specialist will carefully listen as you describe your symptoms, will ask questions, and will review your medical history.

The specialist will also perform a physical evaluation and order testing as needed. Once a diagnosis is determined, the specialist will discuss your options with you and recommended treatment plan.

That will be determined by the course of treatment our pain specialists recommend. Our physician-nurse teams will take the time to discuss your condition and expectations prior to beginning your treatment protocol. Pain management injections generally take about 15 minutes, with additional time preferred for monitoring. Other procedures, such as spinal cord stimulation, require mild sedation and therefore require more time.

For interventional pain management procedures, patients can generally resume normal activities, including returning to work, the day after the procedure.

Once our pain specialists have conducted a comprehensive diagnosis of your pain, interventional pain therapy is our first methodology for providing relief. This includes epidural injections, nerve blocks, physical therapy, nerve ablation, spinal cord stimulation and trigger point injections. With a variety of conservative treatments at our disposal, we are usually able to work with a patient to manage their pain. If conservative treatments are ineffective, we discuss with patients the possibility of surgery, and prescription medication.

Only after we’ve exhausted all interventional techniques, and not as a long-term treatment.

As with any procedure, interventional pain management procedures have potential side effects as well as certain risks. Talk with your doctor about whether interventional pain management is right for you.