Ohio Offers Free Medication-Assisted Treatment Training

Physicians Are Eligible for Up to $1300 Reimbursement

(December 8, 2017) The country is facing an opioid overdose epidemic, and although rates are not as high as in some other states, Ohio is far from immune to this public health emergency. Policymakers and others have been working for more than six years to develop a comprehensive and community centered multi-faceted approach to combat the opiate epidemic. 

This includes prevention and early intervention with techniques such as SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment), and evidence-based treatment including counseling and medication-assisted treatment.

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) of opioid use disorder utilizes drugs like buprenorphine. When taken appropriately, it prevents a person in recovery from feeling the effects of opiates or feeling “high.”

To ensure drugs containing buprenorphine are appropriately prescribed, and to increase the success of this form of treatment, facilities at which prescribers treat more than 30 individuals had to obtain licensure by the Board of Pharmacy. Licensure requires office-based opioid treatment facilities to comply with the following:

  • Mandatory background checks for the owners and employees of these facilities and prohibiting those convicted of serious criminal offenses from engaging in office-based opioid treatment;
  • Confirmation that facilities are physician-owned, unless otherwise approved by the Board; and
  • Adherence to prescriber patient limits set forth by federal regulations.

Licensure permits the Board to conduct regular inspections to ensure facilities are meeting standards of care set by the Board. Such standards include:

  • Practicing in accordance with an acceptable protocol for treating patients with substance use disorders;
  • Checking a patient’s OARRS report at regular intervals;
  • Ongoing drug testing to ensure compliance with treatment plan;
  • Patient counseling; and
  • Proper dosing standards and supervision to prevent diversion.

Because MAT is an important component of the continuum of care for addiction treatment, the Board is encouraging more doctors to provide medication-assisted treatment through continuing medical education opportunities and reimbursable trainings.

Through 21st Century Cures Act grant funding, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services offers free and reimbursable MAT training. The American Society of Addiction Medicine hosts the eight-hour day of training to meet federal requirements for the DATA 2000 Waiver at numerous sites across Ohio. This is followed by a half-day of training from Ohio experts who discuss topics including low-dose prescribing according to federal and state guidelines, and referral to behavioral health treatment facilities.

Prescribers who attend the full 1.5-day training event and receive their DATA 2000 Waiver may qualify for reimbursement:
Physicians: $1,300
Physician Assistants: $750
Certified Nurse Practitioners: $750
Physician Residents: $1,300

Learn more about MAT training.

Get a list of the MAT training sessions in Ohio.

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