American Board of Medical Specialties gears up to battle opioid crisis, including in Florida

America’s growing opioid crisis has prompted the nation’s largest physician-led specialty certification group to enter the fray, armed with a new strategy to better educate medical professionals on the issue in Florida and beyond.

In October 2015, the American Board of Medical Specialties – which oversees 24 Member Boards – added Addiction Medicine as a subspecialty. The expansion will allow physicians to now apply for new certification through the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

This new subspecialty – further proof that opioid addiction has become a top priority in the health care industry — came after years of developing curricula and fellowships in graduate training programs nationwide, as well as supporting the research necessary to set up addiction medicine as a legitimate medical specialization.

“Substance use and addiction are serious health problems of enormous proportion and impact in this country and on our society,” said Dr. Richard Hawkins, ABMS President and chief executive officer. “By offering certification in this important subspecialty, we continue in our role to assure patients and their families that their physicians meet the high standards of practice and clinical knowledge and have completed an approved educational program in this emerging medical field.”

Additionally, ABMS Boards are incorporating safe opioid education initiatives into Maintenance of Certification (MOC) programs for the 47,000 Board-certified Florida physicians about opioid abuse, misuse, and responsible prescribing procedures.

Among the offerings:

– Approved Opioid Prescriber Education Programs, part of the ABMS Continuing Certification Directory, an online repository of competency-based continuing certification activities. Activities include Federal Drug Administration Opioid REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) compliance, such as Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education (SCOPE of Pain) – an online educational program to improve safety with prescribing opioids, provided in collaboration with the Council of Medical Specialty Societies and Federation of State Medical Boards.

– More than 30 opioid-based approved educational activities through the American Boards of Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics CMEFinder platform.

– The American Board of Anesthesiology’s (ABA) MOCA Minute continuing certification program will include topics on the opioid crisis, including questions on ways to reduce postoperative pain and opiate dosing. Questions about signs of substance abuse will help inform and educate anesthesiologists about ways to help stem the opioid crisis.

–  A new “Emerging Topics” category will be part the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology MOC program. Several articles on the opioid crisis will be released in January for the generalist obstetrics category, with more planned for May and August 2018.