New and Upcoming Activities

Consider approaches to sustain MOUD and ensure continued access to high-quality care for our most challenged patients, including those who are pregnant, youth/adolescents, those with acute or chronic pain, and those electing to taper their dose.

Review considerations for MOUD initiation and follow-up, including lab guidelines, and clinical management of patients with continued use (e.g., fentanyl, novel synthetic opioids), overdose risk, poly-substance use, and comorbid mental health conditions.

Review patient screening considerations and discuss how OUD screening can be integrated into current clinic workflows. Discuss the training and certifications required for specific team members to implement MOUD. Highlight the critical role of Champions, and how to strategically select Champions to support MOUD implementation.

Review medications for opioid use disorders (MOUD), with a focus on buprenorphine treatment and its various formulations. Discuss administrative, clinical and financial considerations, and provide resources for both prescribers and non-prescribers.

Join this PCSS-MOUD Clinical Roundtable, comprised of a short slide presentation followed by a Q&A with the presenter. This webinar will discuss patient-centered care, what is it and how to practice it in the context of treating substance use disorders.

Understanding addiction is essential to successfully addressing it. In this overview of substance use disorders we discuss the spectrum of use, neurobiological responses to substances, theories that explain the disorders, public health impact and epidemiology, comorbidity, and integrated care for this chronic condition.

Language can be used intentionally or unintentionally to perpetuate stigma. The language used towards people who use drugs or alcohol and people with addiction includes many stigmatizing terms which have been shown to increase negative attitudes among the public and clinicians. Examples include words like “abuse,” “abuser,” “addict,” and “dirty.” There are also more subtle ways that language can be used to frame issues related to addiction or substance use which can enhance stigma. Nationally there has been growing awareness around the importance of language and the need to use medically appropriate, person first terminology. Changing our language is a crucial component of reducing stigma to improve the lives and health of people who use drugs or alcohol and people with addiction. This module will discuss the importance of language when discussing substance use and review ways to improve language to improve care.

Risky substance use and substance use disorders may often go unrecognized in primary care settings, either due to insufficient screening or provider discomfort with how to manage a positive screening. There are several brief, simple, validated screening tools that can provide information to indicate risky substance use or the possible presence of a substance use disorder. This information can inform providers as to whether a simple brief intervention or a referral to treatment is warranted. This module will: introduce screening tools related to drug and alcohol use; review more detailed substance use, medical, and psychiatric assessment considerations; demonstrate effective strategies for brief interventions; and discuss considerations for treatment referrals.