Fifty physicians turned out for the opioid prescribing CME in Greenville last Saturday, March 18, offered for free by the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) and the Pitt County Medical Society. It seems word is getting out that as of July 1, the North Carolina Medical Board’s new opioid prescribing CME requirement will take effect.
Under the new requirement, a physician or physician assistant prescriber whose CME cycle renews on or after July 1, 2017, will be expected to have met the new requirement. Physicians who prescribe controlled substances (including non-opioids) must complete three hours of eligible CME during each cycle and PAs must complete two hours. These hours are part of the licensee’s total CME requirement for the cycle, not in addition to it.
To help our members fulfill this new requirement, the NCMS has been offering free opioid prescribing CME in conjunction with its Board of Directors’ meetings held throughout the state. The Medical Board also is directing physicians and PAs to resources like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s seven free prerecorded modules on safe opioid prescribing. CME credit can be obtained after viewing or listening to any CDC module by completing an online evaluation and post-test. Courses are certified for credit through December 2017. Access the CDC opioid modules. Additional CME courses and information about the new controlled substances requirement can be found at www.ncmedboard.org/prescribingCME
The NC Medical Board also has partnered with Wake AHEC to create free CME that will cover the required topics through a webinar and four live panel sessions. The webinar is available now and covers the CDC guidelines and utilization of the Controlled Substances Reporting System (CSRS). It is free to watch and will provide an hour of Category 1 CME and meets the requirements of the controlled substances CME. Link to the webinar.
Registration for the four panel sessions is open now as well. These panels are live, 2-hour events being held in central North Carolina (see dates and locations below) and are free to NC licensed medical professionals. Attendees at the live event are highly encouraged to watch the webinar in advance of the panel session. Combined, the webinar and panel sessions will fulfill the controlled substances CME requirement going into effect July 1.
Register for the panel convenient for you:
