painprep-mcp-server

An MCP server for interventional pain medicine — Medicare documentation checklists, CPT/ICD-10 coding, ASRA anticoagulation guidance, prior-authorization letters, denial appeals, and research evidence for 85+ procedures.

Built from PainPrep by Keith Schmidt, MD (triple board-certified pain medicine). This server makes PainPrep's clinical reference data available to any MCP client — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or your own agent.

⚠️ Clinical decision-support, not medical advice. All output must be reviewed by a licensed clinician. Coding, coverage, and anticoagulation guidance change frequently — always verify against current CMS/LCD policy and the latest ASRA guidelines.

What it does

Every tool accepts a procedure as a name, id, or CPT code (e.g. "Lumbar/Sacral Interlaminar ESI", "lesi", or "62323"). Unrecognized queries return "did you mean" suggestions.

Quick start (no install)

The fastest way to run the server — npx clones, builds, and launches it in one step:

npx -y github:Goingparabolic/painprep-mcp-server

Or wire it straight into an MCP client (see examples/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "painprep": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "github:Goingparabolic/painprep-mcp-server"],
      "env": { "PAINPREP_LICENSE_KEY": "PP-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX" }
    }
  }
}

Install & build (from source)

git clone https://github.com/Goingparabolic/painprep-mcp-server.git
cd painprep-mcp-server
npm install

# Extract the clinical data from the PainPrep source (one-time; see "Data" below)
npm run extract           # reads the PainPrep HTML → src/data/*.json

npm run build             # compile TypeScript → dist/ and copy data
npm run smoke             # end-to-end test (optional)

The repository ships with the extracted JSON in src/data/, so npm run extract is only needed to regenerate it from an updated PainPrep source.

Use with Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "painprep": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/painprep-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": { "PAINPREP_LICENSE_KEY": "PP-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX" }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. You'll then be able to ask things like:

• "List the SI joint procedures."
• "What are the CPT codes and RVUs for lumbar RFA?"
• "Draft a prior-auth letter for a lumbar ESI for a patient with 5 months of L5 radiculopathy who failed 8 weeks of PT."
• *"My note for an LESI documents MRI findings and pain score — what's missing for Me

... View full README on GitHub