Original Date of Release: September 5, 2019
Enroll by: June 5, 2022
Expiration Date: September 5, 2022
Content Available Until: December 5, 2022

Ability to purchase this activity will end on the enroll by date to be sure learners have time to complete the activity for credit prior to the expiration date. This activity is available for the designated credit for three years after the original date of release. Once the activity expires, the content will be available for learners to view for 3 additional months. Access to the content will then be removed to ensure content validity in all AAAP & PCSS educational activities.

Educational Objectives of this Activity:

• Learners will identify 1 of 10 Clinical Quality Measures to improve.
• Learners will develop a quality improvement plan.
• Learners will implement the quality improvement plan.
• Learners will review 5 charts of patients with OUD after the implementation of the improvement plan.
• Learners will assess their degree of clinical practice change.

The overall goal of this PIP activity is to improve clinical practice among patients with Opioid Use Disorder through the process of quality improvement.

Change Intended: As a result of this program, learners will determine individual practice gaps and address them through a performance improvement plan designed to improve competence, performance, and patient outcomes.

Core Competencies as a result of participating in this continuing education activity:

• Interpersonal Skills and Communication
• Medical Knowledge
• Patient Care
• Practice-based Learning and Improvement

This activity will assist physicians, physician assistants, nurses and nurse practitioners to determine individual practice gaps and address them through a performance improvement plan designed to improve competence, performance, and patient outcomes.

This activity includes:

1. Introductory reading material on the subject of opioid use disorders
2. Instructions on performing a chart audit
3. Instructions on how to assess your current practice
4. Resources for creating and implementing an improvement plan
5. Additional education resources to aid you along the way.  During the evaluation stage you will be able to compare your performance pre- and post-intervention to assess what changes have occurred in your practice.   

Successful completion of this activity: 

Learners must complete all 3 stages and complete an evaluation at the end of the Performance Improvement (PI) CE activity. This Performance Improvement follows the AMA-standardized three-stage process of a PI CME that includes Stage A - Assess: Assess your current practice against current evidence, expert consensus, and peers' practice; Stage B - Apply: Develop and follow your own improvement plan; Stage C - Evaluate: Reassess your practice to measure the effects of your improvement plan.

This PIP activity will walk you through Three Stages (A, B, and C) in a Performance Improvement process to enhance your practice of the treatment of patients with OUD.  At least one month is required to have passed from Stage B to Stage C, though it may take significantly more time (as long as you deem necessary to plan, implement, and evaluate your educational plan).  This often takes 3-6 months, or longer. 

You MUST COMPLETE all 3 stages to be awarded credit and partial credit will not be awarded. 

Please note: All submitted responses for this activity and its accompanying evaluation will be reviewed by our continuing education department for purposes of improving this activity.  We will also be reviewing each participant's completion time from initiation at Stage A to completion of Stage C. 

We anticipate that completing this PIP activity will increase the likelihood that addiction specialists will offer and monitor high quality treatment for OUDs that can result in better patient-centered care and outcomes, a key theme in the development of this activity. 

Patient-centered care is defined by the AHRQ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (www.ahrq.gov), as: “helping people and their caregivers communicate and make informed health care decisions, allowing their voices to be heard in assessing the value of health care options.” Some questions that reflect patient-centered considerations include: (1) “Given my personal characteristics, conditions and preferences, what should I expect will happen to me?”; (2)“What are my options and what are the potential benefits and harms of those options?”; and (3) “What can I do to improve the outcomes that are most important to me?”. Consideration of patient priorities in weighing treatment options is essential to treatment success and recovery, and an integral part--along with the best research evidence and clinical expertise—of achieving high quality care and better outcomes [4]. Patients should learn about both the efficacy and side effects of treatments and how these apply to them so they can make individualized decisions. The level of patient motivation, choice, and education about treatment options are all important factors to appropriate counseling, prescribing, adherence, and recovery. 

Next, we will guide you through three stages in a Performance Improvement process to implement high quality patient-centered outcomes for patients with opioid use disorders.

Stage A: Data Collection

• You will begin this activity by completing a chart audit to assess your clinical performance using Clinical Quality Performance Measures.
• Once you have identified a clinical measure you wish to improve upon, you will review supporting material for each measure and use this activity to determine your personalized practice improvement goal.

•  You will construct an effective performance plan utilizing PIP tools in order to implement change on your identified measure. 

Stage C: Reassess and Evaluate

• Review and evaluate the effectiveness of integrating your improvement plan into your practice.
• Reassess your practice and performance via chart audit to measure the effects of your improvement plan.