FAQ: New CME opioid requirement for DEA-registered practitioners
Q. What is required?
A. By July 27, 2023, all Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)-registered practitioners (physicians and non-physician clinicians) must complete a new one-time, eight-hour training requirement for the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders offered by an accredited group (please see below).
Q. How can I satisfy the new training requirement?
A. By meeting one of the following:
1. All physicians or non-physician clinicians (NPCs) who are board certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry from the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Board of Addiction Medicine, or the American Osteopathic Association.
2. All physicians or NPCs who graduated in good standing from a medical (allopathic or osteopathic), dental, physician assistant, or advanced practice nursing school in the United States within five years of June 27, 2023, and successfully completed a comprehensive curriculum that included at least eight hours of training on:
Treating and managing patients with opioid or other substance use disorders, including the appropriate clinical use of all drugs approved by the FDA for the treatment of a substance use disorder; or
Safe pharmacological management of dental pain and screening, brief intervention, and referral for appropriate treatment of patients with or at risk of developing opioid and other substance use disorders.
3. Other DEA-registered or first-time registered physicians or NPCs can satisfy the training requirement by completing eight hours of training on treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders from the approved organizations:
The American Osteopathic Association (AOA), or any organizations accredited by the AOA to provide continuing medical education
The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS)
Any other organization accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (AACCME) or the Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition (CCEPR), whether directly or through an organization accredited by a State medical society that is recognized by the ACCME or CCEPR
Any other organization approved or accredited by the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, the ACCME, or the CCEPR
Q. Do previous CME courses on substance or opioid use count toward the eight-hour training requirement?
A. Past trainings on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders completed before December 29, 2022 can count toward a physician or NPC meeting this requirement. Also, previous DATA-Waived trainings count toward a DEA registrant’s eight-hour training requirement.
Q. Do I have to complete the eight-hour training in one session or day?
A. No. The training does not have to occur in one session. It can be cumulative across multiple sessions that equal at least eight hours of training.
Q. Do I have to complete all eight hours of training in person?
A. No. Trainings can occur in a variety of formats, including classroom settings, seminars at professional society meetings, or virtual offerings.
Q. When is the deadline to complete the training?
A. The deadline to complete the new CME training course is the date of a physician or NPC’s next scheduled DEA registration submission, either for renewal or for first time registrants. Physicians and NPCs will select a box indicating they have completed the course.
Q. Why is there a new CME training course?
A. On Dec. 29, 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 enacted a new one-time, eight-hour training requirement for all DEA-registered practitioners on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders. The primary purpose of the new requirement is to train practitioners on screening and referring patients who experience or who are at risk of substance abuse.
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