A collaborative program offers an array of professional educational offerings on opioid-related issues.

Prescribers’ Clinical Support System for Opioid (PCSS-O) Therapies is a collaborative project of 7 health organizations, led by the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), that provides training and education on safe prescribing of opioid medications in the treatment of pain and/or addiction.
 
The project is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
 
A series of 10 PCSS-O modules designed for physicians, nurses, and dentists is available free online at http://www.pcss-o.org/online-modules. The goal of PCSS-O is to increase health care providers’:

• knowledge of the current state of opioid-dependence treatment
• understanding of treatment issues for special populations
• ability to assess and treat patients.

 
Each non-CME module consists of a PowerPoint presentation by an expert in the field, a reference list, and a post-test. Upon completing the post-test and a program evaluation, participants receive an e-mail detailing their post-test score, the correct answers, and an explanation and reference for each question. A certificate of completion is also provided. 
 
Module topics include considerations in the assessment and treatment of pain and risk for opioid misuse, recognizing and treating substance use disorders in primary care, urine drug testing in clinical practice, and more.
 
In addition to educational modules, PCSS-O provides links to archived Webinars, articles and reports, peer support, and an expert-of-the-month listserv.
 
For more information on these and other offerings, visit the PCSS-O home page at http://www.pcss-o.org/.