LA-PMR

LA-Pain 2022: What it Means for You

Two years ago, we launched Longitudinal Assessment for Pain Medicine (LA-Pain) in partnership with the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA). So far, the assessment has only been open to Pain Medicine diplomates who are in the year of their certification expiration.

Now, starting in 2022, all ABPMR Pain Medicine diplomates are expected to enroll and participate in LA-Pain annually.

What is LA-Pain?

Like ABPMR’s LA-PM&R (longitudinal assessment for PM&R) program, LA-Pain is a learning platform designed to assess your knowledge in pain medicine, give immediate feedback, identify knowledge gaps, and provide resources to help you learn and improve over time.

What are the changes for 2022?

All ABPMR Pain Medicine diplomates are expected to participate in LA-Pain annually starting in 2022. Previously, diplomates recertified by taking the Pain Medicine Examination; LA-Pain will now be used annually by all Pain Medicine diplomates for their ongoing CC (continuing certification) assessment requirement. Feedback shows most diplomates think this option is more convenient, flexible, and relevant to stay up to date in your pain medicine knowledge and care.

Great news for 2022 and the future: We are decreasing the question requirement from 120 to 60 questions per year, or 15 questions per quarter! Questions are answered within LA-Pain by accessing the platform conveniently on your computer or tablet; they can be answered one at a time throughout a quarter, or all in one sitting each quarter.

What does this mean for me?

As a Pain Medicine diplomate, you will be expected to participate in LA-Pain annually starting in 2022. Those who participated in 2021 and 2020 will continue their participation by re-enrolling this fall and continuing to access the platform using their login credentials.

What do I do now?

Enroll for LA-Pain 2022 from October 15 through December 31! You will pay $200 per year to enroll; this is to offset the cost to administer the assessment, including costs paid to ABA and ABPMR staff time to provide support to diplomates.

What should I expect while taking LA-Pain?

Each quarter will have 15 questions you answer by signing in to LA-Pain using your credentials. We encourage you to complete the 15 questions each quarter; however, unanswered questions do carry over to the next quarter with the deadline for answering all questions for the year on December 31 at 11:59 pm EST. It’s to your benefit to keep up each quarter to avoid questions piling up at the end of the year!

Your score is calculated in real-time based on a scoring process from the ABA called measurement decision theory (MDT). Whether or not you’re meeting the performance standard will be displayed on your LA-Pain dashboard and updated in real time—if you’re wondering how you’re doing, just sign into your dashboard! There will be advance notice if you’re not meeting the standard. You will receive a new 10-year Pain Medicine certificate if you meet the performance standard at the end of your year in which your certificate expires.

Throughout LA-Pain, you will receive immediate feedback on correct and incorrect answers as well as rationales and resources to help you learn—and your dashboard will continually update to show if you’re meeting the standard. Expect to learn and improve over time!

Enroll in LA-Pain 2022 starting on October 15 and please reach out to the ABPMR with questions as you enroll in and complete LA-Pain— we’re here to help you in this transition!


Originally Published: October 04, 2021