CO*RE Awarded Year-Long Grant to Continue ER/LA Opioid REMS Education

A $3.6 million grant has been awarded to a group of 13 prominent health care provider organizations that deliver some of the most effective education to clinicians on safer prescribing of extended-release and long-acting (ER/LA) opioid pain medications.

ASAM is a partner of the Collaboration for REMS Education (CO*RE). CO*RE has been awarded its second full year-long grant (after the first and an interim grant) by the REMS Programming Companies (RPC). CO*RE, a collaboration of primarily national associations, will use this funding of $3,655,634 in 2015 to reach beyond the 53,000 clinicians it has successfully educated since 2013. Together, the CO*RE partner organizations represent more than 682,000 physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. CO*RE educational programming – in live, online and iBook formats – delivers valuable, accredited education on the safe and effective use of ER/LA opioids in alignment with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) for ER/LA opioids.

“Abuse and misuse of these powerful pain-relieving medications is a public health crisis nationwide,” said Herb Malinoff, MD, chair of the ASAM ER/LA Opioid REMS Courses who helped develop the CO*RE curriculum. “In 2011, nearly 17,000 drug-poisoning deaths in the U.S. involved opioids. CO*RE’s educational activities and materials are designed to assist prescribers in balancing the risks of these medications with the benefits for relief of severe, chronic pain.”

Over 50 percent of US health care professionals who have participated in ER/LA opioid REMS continuing education have attended CO*RE activities. The vast majority indicated that receiving this education improved their understanding and knowledge base and would improve their prescribing practices.

Education includes live presentations, webinars, national and statewide articles in organizations' publications, websites, and the iBook. All underscore the risks of addiction, abuse, misuse and overdose of opioids; recommend patient assessment, including effective screening tools and when to terminate the use of such medications; use of patient informed consent and counseling forms; patient and public safety issues; and more. ASAM has worked independently of funders to design and deliver the education most effective to members.

For more information about ASAM’s ER/LA Opioid REMS Courses, visit: http://www.asam.org/education/rems-courses. For more information about CO*RE, visit: http://www.core-rems.org.