AHS 2022 | Recommedations for best practices in building a multidisciplinary headache clinic

Elizabeth Seng, PhD, FAHS, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, discusses the best practices in building a multidisciplinary headache clinic. Referral-based care is a good foundation for fully understanding how much a patient needs a particular service. However, if a service proves to work effectively with positive patient feedback, it is highly recommended that the service becomes fully integrated into the practice. This will improve the collaboration of care – which is being demonstrated in many mental health fields, with the same principles holding true in neurology. Furthermore, the best referral model is to produce a proactive strategy – integrating an educational program for teaching behavioral management to patients. Not every patient who comes into a headache clinic will need to see a psychologist; headaches secondary to infection would not require psychological intervention. Thus, only individuals who have primary headache disorders should see a psychologist. With the addition of a specialist headache psychologist to a clinic, it is a waste of resources to primarily utilize them for the treatment of psychiatric disorders; they are trained to address and manage both mental health concerns and reduce headache-related disability. Therefore, patient referral strategy models should consider a broader approach to headache care and treatment. This interview took place during the 2022 American Headache Society (AHS) Annual Scientific Meeting in Denver, CO.