PCSS-MAT Office-Based Treatment of Opioid Dependence WEBINAR SERIES

PRESENTER:
Stephen A. Wyatt, D.O.
Medical Director, Addiction Medicine
Behavioral Health
Carolinas HealthCare System

SPONSORSHIP:
This program is part of a national training initiative, which has been endorsed by the Federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and is sponsored by the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine. Physicians who successfully complete this 8 hour-course will be eligible to request a waiver to practice medical-assisted addiction therapy with Buprenorphine, for the treatment of opioid dependence. PCSS-MAT is a collaborative project with the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine (AOAAM), American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), American Psychiatric Association (APA), American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA). PCSS-MAT’s mission is to provide free, evidence-based resources to train clinicians and the public about the effectiveness of medications used for treating opioid addiction, including buprenorphine, naltrexone and methadone, in order to more effectively address this public health crisis.

CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION:
This program has been approved for 4.0 AOA Category 1-A CME credits (live webcast session) providing all requirements have been met. It has also been approved for 4.0 AAFP Prescribed Credit hours, which are eligible for the AMA’s Physician Recognition Award Credit. Participants are required to attend the entire session and participate in the polling questions and post-test (with a passing grade of 70%) in order to be eligible for CME credit.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
In October 2002, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved buprenorphine (Subutex ®) and buprenorphine combined with naloxone (Suboxone ®) as sublingual tablet preparations indicated for detoxification and long-term therapy in opioid dependency. These are the only two schedule III medications approved by the FDA for treatment of opioid addiction under the Drug Addiction Treatment of 2000. Subsequently, SAMHSA established the PCSS-B to (a) support physicians in the workforce who are providing buprenorphine treatment, (b) promote strategies that address practical issues in the recognition and treatment of opioid addiction through the use of multiple training formats and technologies, (c) target primary care physicians who are trying to integrate opioid addiction into their practice, and (d) provide advanced training that addresses more complex issues in the treatment of opioid use disorders.

More recently, on October 12, 2010, the FDA approved extended release injectible naltrexone (Vivitrol ®) to treat and prevent relapse after patients with opioid dependence have undergone detoxification treatment. Extended release injectible naltrexone is a non-narcotic product that provides an alternative to the two more widely used and controlled substances, methadone (schedule II) and buprenorphine. While there has been a significant increase in the number of persons who have been prescribed buprenorphine for opioid addiction treatment in the past several years, the number of people who have been inducted on extended release injectible naltrexone remains relatively low in part due to the lack of education and knowledge by primary care physicians about opioid addiction and this medication. Thus, training in the appropriate use and indications for extended release injectible naltrexone is highly needed. The overall lack of physician training, concerns over practical issues, and limited understanding of the appropriate role of medication in opioid treatment also appear to be factors in the slow adoption of newer forms of opioid treatment by the medical profession. Thus, this program is designed to carry out the training of physicians desiring to prescribe and/or dispense FDA approved products (buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone, including extended release injectible naltrexone) for the treatment of opioid addictive disorders.

As of the requirements to obtain the waiver, physicians without specified experience must complete not less than 8 hours of training.
The first half of the training is a 4.25 hour live webcast. The second half of the course is a 3.75 hour computer-based study. An examination on the computer study must be successfully completed within 30 days of the webinar session as part of the process to obtain a waiver for prescribing buprenorphine. Instructions on how to log on to the second half of the course will be provided via email ONLY to those who stay on the webinar for its entirety. Please note that in order to be eligible for the waiver to prescribe Buprenorphine, you must complete a total of 8 hours consisting of the webinar session (4.25 hours) and the online self-study session and exam (3.75 hours) within 30 days of the webinar. The AOAAM cannot verify completion of the webinar session if less than 4.25 hours are attended. Should you not attend for the entire session, you will have to retake the entire webinar again on a different date in order to get certified. Please be aware that it is MANDATORY that you are able to view the presentation slides and participate in the polling questions in order to verify webinar attendance. Phone attendance only does not qualify for webinar participation. The combined webinar and online training will provide the required 8 hours needed to obtain the waiver to prescribe buprenorphine in office-based treatment of opioid dependence. Physicians who complete this course will meet the training qualification under the new law.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This program is recommended for primary care, pain management, psychiatric, HIV and addiction medicine physicians. Other professionals (non-physicians) are also invited but will not be able to be eligible for the waiver. 

PROGRAM GOALS and OBJECTIVES OF PCSS-MAT
GOAL #1: Train physicians in the workforce to provide treatment of opioid dependence.
GOAL #2: Provide clinical mentoring that emphasizes practical issues in the recognition and treatment of opioid dependence. 
GOAL #3: Provide advance training that addresses more complex issues in the treatment of those with substance use disorders, opioid dependence, and other mental or medical illnesses.
GOAL #4: Reduce prescription drug misuse and abuse through the education of current and future prescribers regarding appropriate prescribing practices for pain and other medications subject to abuse and misuse.
GOAL #5: Enhance prescribers’ and other health professionals’ knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding safe and effective use of medication assisted treatment of opioid dependence.
GOAL #6: Increase the flexibility of approaches by providers working in traditional treatment models to allow implementation of the medical model of addiction management, recognizing the importance of pharmacotherapy as the most effective strategy to prevent relapse to opioid dependence.

For More Information and FREE training and educational resources on Medication Assisted Treatment –Providers' Clinical Support System for Medication Assisted Treatment (PCSS-MAT) visit www.pcssmat.org.