New BPS Pain Management Certification Set to Support Pharmacist Expertise

Pharmacy Times^® interviewed Christopher Herndon, PharmD, BCACP, FASHP, FCCP, CPE, a professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy, the 2019 president for the Society of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists (SPPCP), and current president of the SPPCP Foundation, on the new Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) exam for pain management, emphasizing its significance in validating advanced knowledge and skills for pharmacists managing pain. The exam, set to launch in Q4 of 2025, targets pharmacists providing comprehensive pain management services. Herndon highlighted the 20-year advocacy journey behind the certification, dating back to the early 2000s, with a 2011 role delineation study that initially combined pain and palliative care, later separated due to their distinct practices. He currently serves on the inaugural specialty council for the BPS pain management certification.

Overhead view of variety of pain reliever medicines. Image Credit: © TheWaterMeloonProject - stock.adobe.com

The certification is expected to aid pharmacists in obtaining credentialing, privileging, and potentially salary increases. Key challenges in pain management for 2025 include ongoing stigma and limited access to evidence-based therapies. Herndon expressed optimism about emerging non-opioid treatments, such as sodium channel blockers and adenosine antagonists.

His journey into pain management started through palliative care during a geriatrics residency and expanded through experiences in oncology and chronic pain management. Despite limited breakthroughs in pain therapy, he remains hopeful for future innovations amid the opioid crisis.

Pharmacy Times: What is the new BPS exam for pain management, and who are the best candidates for this exam?

Christopher Herndon, PharmD, BCACP, FASHP, FCCP, CPE: Well, the BPS pain management specialty certification is really the culmination of 20 years of work and advocacy towards this recognition. The purpose is really to validate the advanced knowledge, skills, and experiences that pain management pharmacists possess. I think the best candidates for this exam will be pharmacists that are providing integrated, comprehensive, and accessible health care services to patients experiencing pain and associated symptoms.

Pharmacy Times: When will this BPS exam for pain management be available, and where will candidates be able to take this exam?

Herndon: We are hoping that the first BPS pain management exam will actually be offered fourth quarter of 2025 so this year. I would anticipate that candidates that would like to sit for this exam probably will be able to take the exam at testing sites very similar to some of the other BPS exams, usually at some of these formal commercial sites.

Pharmacy Times: What is the history surrounding the decision for BPS to grant the development and administering of this specialty exam for pain management, and how did you become involved?

Herndon: Well, the first push, the first real push for recognition of pain and palliative care as a specialty really was back in the early 2000s. In 2011, BPS actually undertook a role delineation study for pain and palliative care as a specialty. I was honored to be a part of the task force or working group that was involved with that analysis.

Unfortunately, at that time, the number of PGY-2 residencies, as well as the actual data from the role delineation, just did not support a combined specialty exam in both pain and palliative care. In hindsight, we likely really didn't achieve the necessary percent effort in the data [because] we were looking at both pain and palliative care combined, [which is] similar to the way that the residencies are offered. However, today, really, these are probably 2 very distinct but certainly overlapping specialty areas in terms of what people are actually doing, day in and day out on their jobs, even despite the fact that PGY-2 standards still incorporate both pain and palliative care.

I think that the 2011 job analysis and role delineation study really centered around a strategic planning summit that was hosted in order to try to advance pain and palliative care pharmacy practice, and that was one of the major pushes that were identified as a means for advancing this particular area. In terms of currently, how I'm involved, I'm actually very honored to be part of the inaugural specialty council for the BPS pain management certification.

Pharmacy Times: How might this BPS exam support pharmacist's role in pain management and support improved patient care?

Herndon: Like the other BPS specialties, the BCPMP, or board certified pain management pharmacist credential, will provide the successful pharmacist with validation of their knowledge and their skills. Additionally, for those in advanced practice roles, some might find credentialing and privileging will likely be much easier with this particular credential. In fact, some employers actually may offer bonuses or raises after successfully passing the pain management certification exam.

Pharmacy Times: What are your thoughts on important issues related to pain management for patients this year, and are there any promising treatments or care strategies on the horizon you are interested in or are watching develop in the field?

Herndon: This is a great question. I think the primary issue for patients with pain in 2025 will look very similar to the past several years, and this is ongoing stigmatization and lack of access to evidence-based therapies. We are starting to see some very novel, non-opioid drugs make their way through clinical studies that really are quite exciting to me. These include drugs that may act on specific sodium channels, adenosine antagonists, and even repurposing some older adjuvant analgesics into topical formulations that are commercially available and have undergone FDA evaluation.

Pharmacy Times: How did you come to your work in pain management as a pharmacist, and what are some advances in the field that you've found particularly promising?

Herndon: I first found pain management through the lens of palliative/end of life care. I did my geriatrics residency at University of New Mexico, and my longitudinal experience was with their hospice program. I really loved working with the clinicians and the patients within that organization. I was lucky enough when I transitioned to Texas Tech University to be able to work in a large outpatient oncology center where I work with pain and the management for patients that were receiving care at that facility. Currently, I provide patient care services to those with chronic pain or opioid use disorder in a large family medicine residency program.

To answer your question in terms of advances in the field, unfortunately, we've really had relatively few that have actually stood the test of time or panned out in clinical practice, either due to efficacy or safety concerns. I'm really hopeful, however, that with some of the concerns around opioid overdoses and the need to try to limit access to those medications, except for when pain is incredibly severe or disabling, that we will continue to see advances in the coming years.