Anesthesiologist
Dr. Ray Baker is an anesthesiologist specializing in interventional pain medicine and non-surgical spine care. He has more than 25 years of clinical experience. He has served on the Veritas Health Medical Advisory Board for 20 years.
- Dr. Baker is an active researcher and educator in the field of pain medicine. He has published original research which includes Demystifying Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroids: A Seminal Efficacy Study of a Specific Spinal Injection and Déjà vu all over again.
- He has also served on the Advisory Editorial Board of The Spine Journal and as a Reviewer of Pain Medicine and The Clinical Journal of Pain.
- Dr. Baker has contributed numerous chapters to medical textbooks including Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment of Discogenic Pain and AAPM Textbook of Pain Medicine: Treatment of Chronic Pain by Interventional Approaches.
Experience
Dr. Baker is a fellowship-trained pain medicine and management physician with Washington Interventional Spine Associates. He specializes in spine-related interventions, helping patients with back and neck pain recover their quality of life. He is an assistant clinical professor and director of the Interventional Pain Service at the University of Washington, Department of Anesthesiology.
Board Certifications
- American Board of Pain Medicine
- American Board of Anesthesiology
Spine Medicine Leadership
- Past President, International Spine Intervention Society
- Past President, North American Spine Society
- Founding Chairman, CMS Multi-Society Pain Workgroup
- Chairman, UnitedHealthcare National Spine Advisory Board
- Member, American Academy of Pain Medicine
- Member, American Medical Association
- Member, American Pain Society
- Member, American Society of Anesthesiology
- Member, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians
- Member, King County Medical Society
- Member, Washington State Medical Society
- Member, World Institute of Pain
Select Medical Research
- The Price of Cost Savings
- Complications of Spinal Diagnostic and Treatment Procedures
- Evidence-informed management of chronic low back pain with intradiscal electrothermal therapy
- Safeguards to Prevent Neurologic Complications after Epidural Steroid Injections: Consensus Opinions from a Multidisciplinary Working Group and National Organizations
- Provocative Discography
- Use of Spinal Injections for Low Back Pain
- Comparison of Four Different Analgesic Discogram Protocols Comparing the Incidence of Reported Pain Relief Following Local Anesthetic Injection into Concordantly Painful Lumbar Intervertebral Discs
- A biologic without guidelines: The YODA project and the future of bone morphogenetic protein-2 research
- Evidence-informed management of chronic low back pain with minimally invasive nuclear decompression
- Comparative Effectiveness of Cervical Transforaminal Injections with Particulate and Nonparticulate Corticosteroid Preparations for Cervical Radicular Pain
- Cervical transforaminal injection of corticosteroids into a radicular artery: A possible mechanism for spinal cord injury
- Radiofrequency facet joint denervation in the treatment of low back pain: a placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess efficacy
Professional Awards and Recognition
- Top Seattle Doctors (2002-2007)
- Best Doctors in America (2003-2006)
Education
- BA – Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley
- MD – University of California Irvine School of Medicine
- Residency – Anesthesiology, University of California Irvine
- Fellowship – Pain Medicine, University of Washington
About Veritas Health
Veritas Health publishes original, unbiased, and comprehensive resources to help millions of people each month make informed decisions about their health. Our rigorous editorial process is modeled after medical journals and ensures articles are reviewed with integrity and objectivity. The Veritas Health platform—including Spine-health.com, Arthritis-health.com, and Sports-health.com—is a trusted authority on back pain, arthritis, sports injuries, and chronic pain conditions.
Profile last updated: January 21, 2020.