The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (ODMHAS) is sponsoring an American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Buprenorphine Course during Ohio’s 2017 Opiate Conference: Bridges to Recovery Monday-Tuesday, June 12-13, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Columbus, OH.
Dear Colleagues,
With the opioid crisis severely affecting our communities, including high relapse rates and increasing overdose deaths, it is crucial for us as health care professionals, to work toward increasing the availability of medically-assisted treatment for opioid disorders. Currently there is a shortage of physicians in Ohio who can provide buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorders. Buprenorphine maintenance therapy can be applied in routine clinical care, including primary care and psychiatry, to treat individuals with prescription opioid or heroin addiction. With increasing prevalence of opioid use disorders and overdose deaths in Ohio, it is imperative that we increase treatment resources for these individuals.
The Drug Abuse Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) specifies training is necessary for physicians to obtain a waiver to engage in office-based treatment of opioid use disorders using drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Schedules III, IV, and V.
Therefore, to meet the need for increased treatment resources, the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities (OACBHA), the ODMHAS, as well as the Great Lakes Addiction Technology Transfer Center are offering a course provided through the ASAM to provide prescribers with the required education necessary to apply for the waiver to engage in office-based treatment of opioid disorders. The ASAM Buprenorphine Course addresses FDA requirements using a curriculum approved by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment/SAMHSA and ASAM, one of the national organizations named in the DATA 2000 legislation as eligible to prepare and administer these courses.
As a call to physicians, I encourage you to sign up for the ASAM Buprenorphine Course. This course will be taking place during Ohio’s 2017 Opiate Conference: Bridges to Recovery Monday-Tuesday, June 12-13.
Over the two days, attendees will have the opportunity to receive their DATA 2000 waiver training as well as hear from keynote speakers and various breakout sessions.
1. Provide documentation that they have received a Drug Enforcement Agency Waiver to prescribe
Buprenorphine products
2. Indicate a willingness to prescribe medication-assisted treatment in their practice setting.
I hope you will consider attending the course, to boost much needed treatment resources within and across our communities. To register for the conference or the training, visit the OACBHA website.
If you have any questions, contact Alaina Herrel or call 614.224.1111.