Spots are still available for this week’s inaugural ISMA webinar on opioid prescribing and addiction, set for noon Thursday, Oct. 19. Participation and CME credits upon completion are free.

Dates have also been set for subsequent monthly webinars through December, 2018, and registration is open for next month’s event. The hour-long sessions will take place at noon on the third Thursday of each month; they will be webcast live and will remain online for participants to view later. 

“The misuse of and addiction to opioids has become a national crisis that is complex and has comprehensive training needs,” said ISMA Director of Education Ranae Obregon. “It is ISMA’s goal to expand our current continuing medical education offerings to deliver evidence-based information on best practices for controlled substance prescribing and management through a monthly live webinar that allows for interactive Q and A.” 

“The Indiana Hospital Association has committed to promoting our webinars to its members,” she added. 

This week’s webinar, “INSPECT Integration: Data for Critical Prescribing Decisions” features ISMA member Gina Huhnke, MD, director of medical affairs and emergency medicine for Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, and Kara Slusser, director of Indiana’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), INSPECT. Participants will learn the advantages of integrating patients’ INSPECT information with their electronic health records (EHRs), how Deaconess accomplished the integration, and what the results have been.  

The Nov. 16 webinar topic is “Difficult Conversations with Patients Seeking Opioids,” with Tim Kelly, MD, medical director of addiction treatment services for Community Health Network, and George Brenner, LCSW, LMFT, LCAC, of Family Counseling Associates. Other sessions will address subjects such as appropriate prescribing of controlled substances, peri-operative protocols for pain and patients prone to addiction, opioid challenges in special populations and assessing complex chronic pain.

To sign up for the webinars, visit ISMA at ismanet.org/OpioidPrescribing. 

ISMA would like members’ suggestions for specific opioid topics to be addressed, as well as other important clinical issues. Please answer a short survey to help develop ISMA’s 2018 education plan. For questions, please contact ISMA at seminars@ismanet.org.