ASAM Teams up with the AMA, Shatterproof to Educate Prescribers and Medical Students About Treating OUD

ASAM’s honoring National Recovery Month with a new, free, one-hour, online training module designed to educate medical professionals and students about prescribing buprenorphine to patients with opioid use disorder (OUD). The Buprenorphine Mini-Course: Building on Federal Prescribing Guidance module is presented by ASAM in collaboration with the American Medical Association (AMA) and Shatterproof.

Utilizing the chronic care framework of addiction treatment, the fully online module offers practical considerations for buprenorphine initiation, dosing, and ongoing patient management to prescribers seeking to initiate buprenorphine for the treatment of OUD. In addition, through interactive and application-focused learning, participants will explore the core principles of OUD treatment and the importance of language when treating patients with this chronic disease.

The brief training module is designed to expand on the Buprenorphine Quick Start Guide developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The quick start guide was released in conjunction with Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Under the practice guidelines, which remove some of the often-cited barriers associated with the “x-waiver” to prescribe buprenorphine in-office for the treatment of OUD, eligible physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse midwives are exempt from federal certification requirements related to training, counseling and other ancillary services that are part of the process for obtaining a waiver to treat up to 30 patients with buprenorphine.

By taking this course, learners will help strengthen America’s medical response to OUD and increase access to life-saving medications. Plus, CME credit is available upon completion of the training module.

In addition, ASAM is offering its eight-hour, fully online Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Course in the ASAM e-Learning Center for free through December 31, 2021. ASAM’s Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Course provides eight hours of required education to qualify for a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for OUD to more than 30 patients in an office-based setting.

We encourage medical professionals and students to take advantage of these fantastic resources!