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:
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
Stage C: Reassess and Evaluate