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PCSS's 8-hour x-waiver training has gone through an extensive review by PCSS clinical experts and has been updated to the latest evidence-based treatment practices. The updated course is now available here.

PCSS also recently refined its waiver course specifically designed for medical students and will soon release an updated waiver course for pediatricians. Find out more about all PCSS's waiver options here.

PCSS has added another nurse lead mentor and its first woman lead mentor, Laura G Leahy, DrNP, APRN, PMH-CNS/FNP, CARN-AP, FAANP, FAAN.

Dr. Leahy founded APNSolutions, LLC, a private practice in southern New Jersey and was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2020. Dr. Leahy is on the faculty as an Advanced Senior Lecturer in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Pennsylvania-School of Nursing and is co-chair of the Addictions Council of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. She completed her Research Dissertation based Doctoral Degree in Nursing Practice (DrNP) through Drexel University.

PCSS's free mentoring program allows you to connect with clinical experts in three ways:

New Video Gives Overview of the Opioid Response Network

PCSS Exchange Session 4, May 20

Join PCSS for Session 4 of the PCSS-Exchange (PCSS-X), a six-session course focused on prescribing medications for treating opioid use disorder (MOUD) and implementing MOUD into clinical practices in a variety of healthcare settings. Don't worry if you've missed the first three sessions; you can join any time!

PCSS-X is intended for an interprofessional audience. Prescribers with frontline experience prescribing medications for opioid use disorder and developing clinic workflows will be available during each session to answer participants’ questions and discuss real-world cases.

Session 3 will review steps for conducting a small pilot/demonstration buprenorphine project, with regular outcomes-monitoring to ensure a smooth scale up of treatment and care for patients with OUD. This includes doing a walk-through to ensure behavioral health and prescriber staff have the certifications, knowledge and skills to deliver buprenorphine, or other pharmacotherapies, in integrated settings. We will discuss approaches for utilizing leadership and staff check-ins to get a pulse on practices, scale up, and changes needed to ensure successful expansion across all administrative and clinical staff. Finally, we will consider which metrics –immediate and long-term– are meaningful to your site, and how to gather relevant data to support federal/state reporting requirements, process improvement goals, and clinical decision-making in MOUD delivery.

Dates for the sessions are: May 20; June 3; and June 17, all Thursdays at 3 pm ET.

All PCSS webinars are recorded and are available for on demand viewing, usually within two weeks of live webinar (and often sooner). Recent webinars that are now available:

(American Psychiatric Association)

(National Council for Behavioral Health)

(American Society for Pain Management Nursing)

(American Society for Pain Management Nursing)

See list of all recorded webinars.

May 13, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

May 18, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Implementing MAT in Residential SUD Treatment Programs

May 25, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

June 8, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Credit Designations Available: AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, and Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit.

The CDC released new resources to support healthcare executives in their ongoing efforts to improve safety related to opioid prescribing.

The Creating a Culture of Safety for Opioid Prescribing: A Handbook for Healthcare Executives contains insights and advice from healthcare executives and quality improvement leaders from health systems representing urban, suburban and rural settings. In the handbook, they share their experiences with engaging with internal and external stakeholders, working across interdisciplinary teams, leveraging data to inform strategies, and implementing training and educational efforts, to transform opioid prescribing practices throughout the health system.

The Quality Improvement & Care Coordination When Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain video series shares stories from healthcare leaders about how they applied quality improvement and care coordination measures to improve opioid prescribing practices.

Access the full suite of resources for health systems and providers.

The Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) is looking for clinical sites to place PA students hoping to learn more about substance use disorders in the following states:

California, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

By participating in the program, behavioral health clinical sites will be connected with PA programs seeking to set up full-time, supervised 4- to 8-week rotations for their students.

PA students joining addiction medicine providers for their rotations will be ready to apply their broad medical and behavioral health training to provide team-based psychiatric care, MOUD, and primary care. With expanded OUD treatment training and experience, these graduates will improve access to care for behavioral health practices and increase the availability of providers, helping to address health disparities related to OUD.

If you are interested in training the next generation of PAs, please contact DMurray@PAEAonline.org.

The 2021 application cycle for three NHSC Loan Repayment Programs has been extended to May 27, 7:30 p.m. ET, giving clinicians more time to apply.

The loan programs include: NHSC Loan Repayment Program (NHSC LRP), the NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Program (NHSC SUD Workforce LRP) and the NHSC Rural Community Loan Repayment Program (NHSC Rural Community LRP).

This year, a historic $800 million increase in funding means we will be making more awards in a single year than ever before, and clinicians are encouraged to apply even if their organization’s health professional shortage area (HPSA) score has not been competitive for awards in the past. Additionally, the NHSC Loan Repayment Program will dedicate $15 million for awards to clinicians working at Indian Health Service facilities, Tribally-Operated 638 Health Programs, and Urban Indian Health Programs.

Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by grant no. 1H79TI081968 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.