Opioid Prescriber Training Program

The purpose of the New York State (NYS) Prescription Drug Overdose (PDO) Prevention Program is to advance and evaluate comprehensive state-level interventions for preventing prescription drug overuse, misuse, abuse, and overdose. Effective July 22, 2016, Public Health Law Article 33 §3309-a was updated to require prescribers with a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) number and medical residents prescribing under a facility DEA number to complete a minimum of three (3) hours of course work or training in pain management, palliative care and addiction. 

Included in the PDO Prevention Program objectives is an educational component for providers. The education outreach program will focus on updating providers on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain-United States, 2016 and the topics included in the educational mandate. Part I of this educational program will provide providers with 2 hours CME at no cost to the provider. The program is supported by the Cooperative Agreement 1 NU17CE002742-01, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and by the NYS Department of Health.

The contents are solely the responsibility of the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC or the Department of Health and Human Services.

Part I will cover the following training areas:

• Pain management
• Appropriate prescribing
• Managing acute pain
• State and federal requirement for prescribing controlled substances

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the pathophysiology and general approaches for pain management in the ambulatory setting.
• Describe approaches for managing acute pain and how they would differ from approaches for managing chronic pain.
• Outline clinical guidelines for appropriate prescribing of opioid analgesics.
• List the federal and NYS requirements for prescribing controlled substances.

Part II will cover the following training areas:

• Prevention, screening and signs of addiction
• Response to abuse and addiction
• Palliative medicine
• End-of-life care

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the appropriate considerations in managing a patient’s pain to prevent development of addiction
• Identify and evaluate risk factors for development of Substance Use Disorder
• Describe screening tools and processes that may be used to identify signs of addiction
• Evaluate patients seeking pain medication and discuss appropriate treatment approaches based on whether the patient can be identified as in chronic pain, addiction, both, or neither