The Opioid Epidemic: Resources and Insights
Professional Education
Module 1: Eliminating Stigma Through Clinical Understanding (Innovations and Smart Approaches in Safe Prescribing)
Learn several new concepts and innovation tips. Learn about the new CDC Guidelines about pain. This program will show how to treat pain, opioid withdrawal, and/or opioid addiction. It will show how to taper opioids and you will learn how to conduct “motivational interviewing.” You will gain an increased awareness in neurobiology, psychology, and heritability of addiction. Examine your own internal biases that impact care of your patients who misuse opioids. Lastly, you will evaluate addiction without stigma to build trust and rapport with patients who misuse opioids. This module consists of four audio-filled videos. To successfully complete this course, you must achieve a passing score of 80 percent in the post-test questions.
Professional Education
Module 2: Alternatives to Opioids for Pain (Innovations and Smart Approaches in Safe Prescribing)
Learn several new concepts and innovation tips. Learn about the new CDC Guidelines about pain. This program will show how to treat pain, opioid withdrawal, and/or opioid addiction. It will show how to taper opioids and you will learn how to conduct “motivational interviewing.” You will be refamiliarized utilizing the CDC Guidelines for prescribing opioids. You will also be encouraged to utilize nonpharmacological and pharmacological alternatives to opioids. Lastly, assess your effectiveness and use of the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program. This module consists of four audio-filled videos. To successfully complete this course, you need to achieve a passing score of 80 percent in the post-test questions.
Professional Education
Module 3: Safe Prescribing of Opioids and CNS Depressants (Innovations and Smart Approaches in Safe Prescribing)
Learn several new concepts and innovation tips. Learn about the new CDC Guidelines about pain. This program will show how to treat pain, opioid withdrawal, and/or opioid addiction. It will show how to taper opioids and you will learn how to conduct “motivational interviewing.” You will examine multimodal approaches for chronic pain, including physical, psych-behavioral, procedural, and pharmacological modalities. You will be encouraged to use tools for prescribing and tapering opioids and benzodiazepines. You will be provided with an overview of the use of CURES 2.0. Lastly, the program will examine how to best screen patients for use of CNS depressants and marijuana to mitigate the potential for contraindications with opioids. This module consists of seven audio-filled videos. To successfully complete this course, you need to achieve a passing score of 80 percent in the post-test questions.
Professional Education
Module 4: Recognition, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Substance Use Disorder (Innovations and Smart Approaches in Safe Prescribing)
Learn several new concepts and innovation tips. Learn about the new CDC Guidelines about pain. This program will show how to treat pain, opioid withdrawal, and/or opioid addiction. It will show how to taper opioids and you will learn how to conduct “motivational interviewing.” You will be shown strategies for recognizing substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD). Refamiliarize yourself with screening for fentanyl. Provide valuable pharmacological and nonpharmacological resources to connect patients to treatment for addiction. Discuss individualized treatment plans that are tailored to specific patient needs when treating OUD. This module consists of four audio-filled videos. To successfully complete this course, you need to achieve a passing score of 80 percent in the post-test questions.
Professional Education
Module 5: Eliminating Stigma Through Clinical Understanding of Substance Use Disorder (Innovations for Smart Approaches in Safe Prescribing)
You will explore how having a working awareness of neurobiology, psychology, and heritability of addiction positively impacts holistic treatment of opioid misuse. This module will examine how the etiology of stigma and how internalized biases impact the care of patients who misuse opioids. Lastly, this program will provide resources on how to connect to treatment for substance use disorder. This module consists of five audio-filled videos. To successfully complete this course, you need to achieve a passing score of 80 percent in the post-test questions.
Professional Education
Learning from Pain Management Closed Claim Analysis for Advanced Practice Clinicians
TDC Group has published an analysis of lawsuits and claims filed against pain management advanced practice clinicians (APC). This study completed in 2020 provides quantitative and qualitative information that an APC who practices pain management, including interventional approaches to treatment would find useful in mitigating the risks of unintended outcomes or harms. This study breaks down where most patient injuries occur, what those injuries are, and the lessons learned from those claims.
Professional Education
Safe Opioid Prescribing for Physicians and Dentists
Opioids play an important role in pain management—both in the acute and the chronic setting, but a variety of causes have contributed to an opioid-related epidemic leading to addiction and death. There has also been substantial misuse of opioids by prescription and by diversion.
Professional Education
Pain Management - A Closed Claim Analysis Looking at Risks and Lessons Learned
For the first time, The Doctors Company has published an analysis of lawsuits and claims filed against pain management physicians. This study completed in 2020 provides quantitative and qualitative information that a physician who practices pain management, including interventional approaches to treatment would find useful in mitigating the risks of unintended outcomes or harms. This study breaks down where most patient injuries occur, what those injuries are, and the lessons learned from those claims.
Mar 23, 2021
Prescribing Opioids Safely: How to Have Difficult Patient Conversations
Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., and opioids account for over 60 percent of those deaths. Building a strong doctor-patient rapport can help facilitate tough conversations with patients about opioid prescriptions and reduce risks that could lead to malpractice suits.
Mar 17, 2021
Virtual Reality for Pain Management: An Alternative to Opioids
Many physicians are exploring virtual reality (VR) technologies as an alternative to opioid prescriptions. VR addresses both attention paid to pain and the patient’s emotional state: The immersive distraction of VR can help a patient mentally transport to another space, such as an underwater seascape, which may also positively affect the patient’s emotional state.
Jan 29, 2021
Pain Management Closed Claims Study
The Doctors Company reviewed medical malpractice claims that closed between 2008 and 2018 and involved pain management physicians as the primary specialty responsible in the claim. That criteria identified 273 claims and lawsuits.
Dec 12, 2019
Office of National Drug Control Strategy Promotes Building an Addiction Medicine Workforce
Dr. Lev recaps a White House event that focused on the field of addiction medicine.
From
The Doctor’s Advocate
Dec 01, 2019
Dilaudid-Related Morbidity and Mortality from Respiratory Depression
Patient safety organizations and the FDA are focusing on ways to reduce patient harm from opioids.
Nov 16, 2018
Opioid Addiction in Pregnant Women and Moms: How to Make a Difference
Treating pregnant women and mothers with opioid addiction calls for a well-informed approach to patient safety.
Video Oct 31, 2018
Naloxone to Fight the Opioid Epidemic: Surgeon General's Perspective
Co-prescribing naloxone can help turn around opioid overdose rates and is an important first step in fighting the opioid epidemic, says U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH. His comments were made to attendees at The Doctors Company's 2018 Executive Advisory Board meeting.
Video Oct 31, 2018
Fighting the Opioid Epidemic: Progress Report from Surgeon General
Programs for combatting the opioid epidemic, reducing overdose rates, and addressing other addiction epidemic issues (including heroin and fentanyl) are explored by U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH. His comments were made to attendees at The Doctors Company's 2018 Executive Advisory Board meeting.
Video Jul 24, 2017
The Opioid Epidemic: A Closed Claims Analysis
Opioids play an important role in pain management—both in the acute and chronic settings. Unfortunately, the dramatic increase in opioid use over the past few decades has resulted in an opioid-related epidemic of addiction and death. To take a deeper look at the epidemic, The Doctors Company reviewed 272 malpractice claims in which patient harm involved opioids.