Pain Clinic Undergoes Medicare Audit

HUNTSVILLE, AL - MAY 7: An Xray view of a pain pump implanted in the abdomen, just above the hip, in a patient at the Alabama Pain Center in Huntsville, AL on May 4, 2014. The battery powered implant is filled with a custom medication for each patient and dispensed to the specific nerve pain pathway along the spine. Huntsville ranks fourth overall in Medicare spending for durgs administered by doctors. It ranks number one in a procedure with more than $11.4 million in payments for injections of unclassified drugs given by doctors to patients in 2012. That according to a recent survey. At this Center Dr. K. Dean Willis treats a significant number of patients that have a hockey puck-sized pain pump implant that dispenses pain medication throughout the day. The Center is on two floors and has its own in-house compound pharmacy for custom-mixed medications. Patients return to get the pump refilled at specific intervals. The clinic once employed a staff of over 80 physical therapy professionals but since the audit, they had to lay off a majority of that staff or lose positions by attrition. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post via Getty Images)