Practice Management
Private Practice
ASAM offers resources that addiction specialist physicians and other clinicians need in private practice.
Private Practice
How to Prepare for a DEA Office Inspection
ASAM members who have a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration to prescribe buprenorphine/naloxone or buprenorphine setting may be inspected by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The DEA is authorized, per the Controlled Substances Act, to inspect any DATA-waivered physicians. The DEA will inspect a DATA-waivered physician every 15 years from when they are approved to prescribe buprenorphine, with the first inspection usually taking place within the first 3 years after they are initially waivered. If a physician applies for a higher patient limit then that 15 year inspection period renews from the date their higher limit is approved and they will likely be inspected again within the first 3 years after their patient increase.
The ASAM Standards of Care
The Standards of Care for the Addiction Specialist Physician (The Standards) address the unique responsibilities borne by a physician who manages or oversees the care of a patient with addiction and related disorders. They are intended to support quality improvement activities conducted by health care provider systems, health care quality entities, medical specialty certification boards, and by individual physicians monitoring their own performance in their own practices.
Payer Issue Reporting Form
Please use this form to report payer issues that you have encountered that you think the ASAM staff should know about.
Pharmacy Access Survey
The Pharmacy Access Survey Report uses data collected from ASAM’s Pharmacy Access Survey. This survey collected self-reported data from close to 200 respondents between February 2020 and September 2022. Respondents represent 32 different states. The implications of this survey data will be used to inform ASAM’s response to addressing pharmacy access issues and ensuring that all evidence-based medications for opioid use disorder, including buprenorphine, are readily available to those who need treatment.
Read the topline Pharmacy Access Survey Report here.
Read the full Pharmacy Access Survey Report here.
Telehealth Resources
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a surge in the use of telehealth to treat patients with substance use disorder (SUD). Telehealth has proved to be a valuable resource for patients and clinicians who have been challenged by the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, regulatory flexibilities have allowed more patients struggling with SUD, including opioid use disorder (OUD), and their clinicians to use telehealth as a means for addiction medication initiation and receipt of related care. For timely telehealth resources for healthcare professionals, including addiction specialist physicians, click here.