Joe Parks, MD, Medical Director/VP of Practice Improvement, National Council for Behavioral Health; Maura Gaswirth, LICSW, Director, Practice Improvement National Council for Behavioral Health

This activity is primarily designed to meet the needs of primary care physicians, specialty care physicians, allied professional staff, and program administrators.

Adherence to medications is a critical component to any successful treatment regimen. Despite this, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to 50 percent of medications are not taken as prescribed. This non-adherence has costly effects on the healthcare system. This is especially true for individuals with substance use disorders who have an increased risk of relapse, hospitalization and emergency room utilization, and death. Please join us as we discuss medication adherence strategies aimed at those with substance use disorders and other co-morbid health conditions. We will share practical interventions and policies to increase medication adherence within your practice and organization.

At the conclusion of this activity, learners should be able to:

• Discuss the concept of medication adherence and non-adherence
• Describe medication adherence challenges for each of the major medications used to treat substance use disorders
• Demonstrate ways in which prescribers, treatment teams and organizations can improve workflows and strategies for increasing medication adherence with their patients
• Review the role of non-prescribing staff in engaging clients on medication adherence
• Recognize challenges of medication adherence for clients with substance use disorders and other co-morbid conditions