Managing Pain in Individuals with Serious Illness and Comorbid Substance Use Disorder, the American Society of Pain Management Nursing is presenting this webinar tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 1, from 1-2 p.m.  The goal/purpose of the webinar is to provide strategies for safe opioid use in individuals with serious illness and co-morbid substance use disorder. Register here.

The 43rd Annual Williamsburg Conference on Heart Diseases will be held Sunday, Dec. 4 to Tuesday, Dec. 6 in Williamsburg, VA. Learn more about this conference and register here.

The AMA is hosting an educational webinars on Dec. 6 to help physicians understand what the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) final rule means to their practice and how to prepare for it. Register for the session here.

The NC Division of Medical Assistance (DMA) is hosting additional provider webinars about the OPR and CCNC-CA changes effective Nov. 1, as outlined in previous Bulletin articles and the DMA’s September Medicaid Special Bulletin. Providers are encouraged to attend one of the webinars. Here are the upcoming webinars with the registration link.

  • Thursday, Dec. 8, 10-11:30 a.m. Register here. Call in information: Toll: +1 (510) 365-3331; Access Code: 123-659-766.
  • Tuesday, Dec. 13, 10-11:30 a.m. Register here. Call in information: Toll: +1(510) 365-3332; Access Code: 928-827-899.

Pediatric Compassionate Care Conference 2017 will be held Friday, Jan. 13 at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. The theme is “When Words Mean Everything: Challenging Patient Interactions and the Art of Meaningful Conversation. Learn more and register here.

MAHEC, working with the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians, The Governor’s Institute on Substance Abuse and Project Lazarus: A Project of CCNC, is offering A Guide to Rational Opioid Prescribing for Chronic Pain, an online education course. The course is designed for all prescribing health care practitioners who are interested in an overview of the rational prescribing approaches for persons with chronic pain disorders. It will fulfill the North Carolina Medical Board’s requirement of at least one hour of continuing education designed specifically to address prescribing practices for chronic pain management. The course cost is $15 for the first 6 months. Offers 3 hours of AAFP, AMA/AAFP Equivalency, and CDE; www.mahec.net/opioid

NCTracks has Computer-Based Training (CBT) courses on a variety of topics available to providers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. Anyone who is a registered user with NCID access to the NCTracks secure Provider Portal can access and take a self-paced course. A list of courses available can be found here and under Quick Links on the NCTracks Provider Training page of the public Provider Portal.