Healthcare providers invited to participate in free training pilot focusing on CDC guidelines for safe opioid prescribing and SAMHSA guidelines for substance abuse screening/brief intervention

What:

Ascend Learning Clinical Healthcare has launched Insight to Action™, an innovative assessment and training program that educates healthcare providers on the latest clinical guidelines around opioid prescribing and substance abuse screening and brief intervention. These guidelines are integral to improving patient outcomes. The Insight to Action Founding Partner free pilot program is now accepting participants from physician practices, hospitals or healthcare systems.

When:

Open for participation now. Register here.

How:

Designed with busy providers in mind, each online module program takes just under two hours to complete, with an easy-to-follow interactive e-learning approach that enhances the provider's ability to have difficult conversation with patients around opioid and substance use. Continuing education units are awarded for participation. Insight to Action provides a baseline assessment of providers' understanding of the guidelines and targeted remediation when needed. It also provides system-level reports for administrators to better gauge overall guideline comprehension and compliance.

Why:

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 191 million opioid prescriptions were dispensed to American patients in 2017. Of those in treatment centers for opioid use disorder, 50 percent of cases originated from prescription medication.¹ Just as alarming, according to a Massachusetts Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) screening guide,15 percent of people will screen positive for unhealthy alcohol/drug use.²

Clinical guidelines, established by the CDC and SAMHSA respectively, can help reduce the incidence and severity of opioid and substance abuse when followed. Unfortunately, a recent survey of providers revealed that only 15 percent of practitioners feel "very" up to date on established guidelines intersecting their practice as these do.³ This leads to incomplete and inconsistent adoption of the guidelines. This is not only devastating to individuals, but also leads to higher costs for providers, hospitals, health systems, insurance companies and ultimately the public. Insight to Action is designed to assess and bolster a provider's skills in areas which may lead to non-compliance, and as a result, improve outcomes and quality care.

Who:

Ascend Learning Clinical Healthcare, part of online learning industry leader Ascend Learning.                                   

¹ CDC 2018, Addictive Behaviors Nov. 2017

² Massachusetts Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) screening guide

³ Provider Demand Survey, June 2018