Referrals for amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS)
We require that all patients are referred to our center by a physician. To determine whether your child should come to our clinic for a consultation, please do one of the following:
- Call us at 215-590-7234 to discuss your child's situation.
- Complete an online intake form.
After you send a completed intake form, our team will contact you to complete the intake process. Our team reviews each patient’s medical records to decide if the AMPS clinic is appropriate for the patient. If AMPS clinic is appropriate for your child, we will contact you to discuss scheduling an appointment. If, after reviewing your child’s medical records, we decide the AMPS clinic is not the best place to meet your child’s needs, our team will provide recommendations for next steps.
Before your appointment
Before your child’s appointment, you must complete a patient packet that asks for detailed psychological information about your child. This packet needs to be completed in full and returned to us before your scheduled appointment. If this information is not completed, your appointment will be cancelled.
Please note that being seen for an appointment in our Center does not mean your child will be admitted into our intensive amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS) program.
Visiting the AMPS Center
Your child's appointment will be in the Division of Rheumatology on the 12th Floor of the Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care.
You will need to arrive at the AMPS Center 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. If you do not arrive 30 minutes early, your child may not be seen by a team member.
What to expect
Your new patient clinic visit will begin with a one-hour psychological evaluation by one of the Center’s psychologists. This will not only include a psychological evaluation but will also include psycho-education.
After the psychologist completes an evaluation, your child will be evaluated by a member of the medical team. The medical provider will review your child’s records and perform a thorough evaluation at the first AMPS clinic visit. If your child has already been diagnosed with AMPS, the medical provider will confirm the diagnosis or explain why AMPS may or may not be the cause of your child’s pain.
If your child has not yet been diagnosed with AMPS, the medical provider will either make the diagnosis of AMPS or explain why AMPS is not the cause of their pain. If your child is not diagnosed with AMPS at the clinic visit, the medical provider may make another diagnosis or direct you to the most appropriate specialist to evaluate your child’s condition.
The medical provider will make specific recommendations for your child at the first AMPS clinic visit, based on their individual needs. In many cases, the medical team will recommend a referral to an outpatient mental health provider who can help the child focus on the mind-body connection, identify coping strategies to help distract from and push through the pain, and shift their focus to function instead of pain.
The AMPS psychologist will also model how patients and families can change their responses to pain to promote a focus on function to what they CAN do, instead of what they can’t.
At this first clinic visit, your child may also meet with:
- Psychology/social work: To discuss school issues and challenges, get referrals to resources at CHOP and in the community, and other resources for support. See Psychology FAQs.
- Physical and occupational therapy: To evaluate your child, determine their individual needs, and create an individualized treatment plan to focus on aerobic exercise, functional strengthening, a return to school/sports/preferred activities, and desensitization techniques. The PT/OT may recommend traditional therapies, and a medical provider will write a prescription for this service. If a PT/OT is not present during your child’s evaluation, the medical provider will determine next steps and your child will receive general recommendations for physical activity and desensitization. See PT/OT FAQs.
Recommendations
After the first consultation with our team, an individualized treatment plan for amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS) will be discussed with the patient and family. AMPS treatment begins at the time of the appointment in our center.
We encourage all children and families to closely follow recommendations provided during clinic visits to facilitate their treatment.
Reminder: An appointment in our Center does not mean that your child will need to be admitted into our multidisciplinary consultative clinic, outpatient services or therapeutic hospital treatment program.