The Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Task Force was created to educate and support medical professionals and the public on understanding that addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences.

We believe that SUD is a medical disease and should be treated as such, and one of the barriers of the disease is the stigma attached to the disorder.  We will be joining forces with the Arkansas State Drug Director Kirk Lane and the Department of Human Services in a statewide campaign to Stop the Stigma.  We urge all physicians to sign the pledge and encourage your staff and patients to do the same.

We believe as a society of physicians, it is our responsibility to do what we can do to initiate this change.  We also hold ourselves to do all we can to treat or refer treatment for patients with this chronic disease.  The following information can be used for physicians and other health care providers when treating individuals with Substance Use Disorder.

Substance Use Disorder Toolkit 

Stop Stigma Campaign

The mission of the Stop Stigma campaign is to change the attitudes in Arkansas by securing the commitment of changing our words.  The stigma of drug use keeps people from seeking treatment.  Words like “junkie,” “addict,” and “druggie” can hurt, damaging self-image and standing in the way of recovery.  Addiction is not a choice.  It is a chronic disease similar to diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.

Click here to read more about the program goals of the Stop Stigma campaign. Developed by the Department of Human Services and the State Drug Directors Office, campaign materials will be available soon.

If you would like more information, email stopstigma@dhs.arkansas.gov or call 501-683-5908.

 

 

AMA Opioid Task Force Recommendations

“We must all confront the intangible and often devastating effects of stigma. The key to recovery is support and compassion. Patients in pain and patients with a substance use disorder need comprehensive treatment, not judgment.” Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA, chair AMA Opioid Task Force.

Below are some resources from the AMA:

AR Impact

UAMS AR-IMPACT Speaker’s Bureau is a FREE interactive televideo lecture series designed to help Arkansas clinicians better manage their chronic pain patients and those who need their opioid dosage reduced.  Each of the AR IMPACT team members will travel to the UAMS Regional Centers to provide lectures on various topics related to pain management and opioid use disorder.

You can access these lectures remotely from your computer or handheld device.  Continuing medical education credit for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, physician assistants, and social workers is available with two hours of credit being offered per lecture date.

Click here for list of upcoming talks.

Questions?  Email arimpact@uams.edu.

To join a conference:

Visit arimpact.uams.edu and click the link to join

OR call 1-844-885-1319, then enter 415081971

Want to see slides from past conferences?  Click here.

AR-IMPACT was launched through a partnership between UAMS, the Arkansas Medical Society, the Arkansas Academy of Family Medicine, the Arkansas Department of Health, and the Arkansas State Medical Board. It is also possible through the generosity of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Office of the State Drug Director.

Appropriate Prescribing of Opiates

Register | Three online modules focusing on educating the health care provider in how to safely and appropriately prescribe opioids. Author(s): Johnathan Goree, MD, UAMS.

This activity is designed for newly licensed prescribers to obtain two of the three hours required within the first two years of obtaining an AR license on the topic of Appropriate Prescribing.

These modules also will be of benefit to other health care providers with an interest in, or who prescribe opioids.

Credits: AMA PRA Category 1 Credits ™ (2.00 hours), Non-Physician Attendance (2.00 hours).

MATRIARC Program

Medication Assisted Treatment Recovery Initiative for Arkansas Rural Communities (MATRIARC) is a program of UAMS’s Psychiatric Research Institute and DHS program designed to bring providers across the state improved access to addiction psychiatry for management of opioid use disorders. The program includes Project ECHO (no cost training), weekly telemedicine, and the new call center.

An addiction psychiatrist will be available free of charge via telephone to provide consultation to primary care physicians, general psychiatrists, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, and mental health professionals providing medication-assisted treatment for patients with opioid use disorder.

The service is available Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding state holidays. Call (501) 526-8459 or (833) 872-7404 to speak to a trained addiction specialist. For more information, visit the MATRIARC website.

 

Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator

The Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator is an online source of information for persons seeking treatment facilities in the United States or U.S. Territories for substance use/addiction and/or mental health problems.  Click here to find areas near you that can provide additional assistance to SUD patients.

Be Well Arkansas

Be Well Arkansas is the Arkansas Department of Health’s Wellness Services that link Arkansans to local resources they can use to improve their health and well-being. Behaviors such as tobacco use, physical inactivity,and poor diet contribute to chronic conditions, like diabetes and hypertension that directly impact the health of our state.

Resources for physicians and other health care providers can be found at https://www.bewellarkansas.org/health-care-providers/

 

Arkansas Suicide & Crisis Hotlines

Arkansas Crisis Center
Listening & Support, Crisis & Suicide Intervention
24 hours / 7 days

Arkansas Crisis Center
1-888-CRISIS (274-7472)
ONLINE CHAT
4:00-Midnight / 7 Days

http://www.suicidehotlines.com/arkansas.html

Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

Arkansas’s Electronic Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) was authorized in 2011 by Arkansas State Legislature Act 304.  The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) oversees the operation of the PMP and has selected Appriss Health to develop a database that will collect and store prescribing and dispensing data for controlled substances in Schedules II, III, IV, and V and any other drugs specified by Arkansas law as amended. Arkansas law requires that each dispenser shall submit, by electronic means, information regarding each prescription dispensed for a controlled substance.

For more information about the program, visit www.arkansaspmp.com or access the training guide.

AMS Journal Feature Stories, Scientific Articles, and Commentaries on Substance Use Disorder Topics

.

Title

Author

Month

Year

Page

Issue

Volume
WHWD Hydrocodone Rescheduling Wroten, David November 2014 100 6 111
Assessment of Hydrocodone Prescribing WIthin a Family Medicine Residency Program Cummins, Dosha, PharmD; et.al February 2015 182 9 111
WHWD Combatting Prescription Drug Abuse-AMS Efforts Wroten, David May 2015 244 12 111
2015 Legislative Session-A Recap of AMS Efforts Penn, Casey July 2015 16 1 112
WHWD Act 529 To Extend Prescriptive Authority to Hydrocodone Combination Products if Authorized by a Physician Wroten, David December 2015 124 8 112
PDMP in Arkansas-An Update Penn, Casey February 2016 174 10 112
AFMC Preventing Substance Abuse with Data-Driven Coalitions Bondurant, Kristina, PHD MPH April 2016 228 12 112
WHWD AMA Task Force to Reduce Opioid Use Shelby, Eugene, MD May 2016 246 13 112
Educational Seminar-Prescription Drug Abuse in Arkansas An Update Penn, Casey July 2016 15 1 113
The Shelby Clinic_Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction Penn, Casey August 2016 30 2 113
How much is too much? In response to opioid prescribing guidelines, two physicians weigh in. Penn, Casey October 2016 80 4 113
AFMC Prescription Monitoring Reduces Opioid Abuse, Death Robertson, Denise, PD January 2017 156 7 113
The State of Public Health in Arkansas in 2016 Smith, Nathaniel, MD MPH April 2017 234 10 113
WHWD A Perfect Storm -How Bad Legilsation Becomes Law Wroten, David May 2017 256 11 113
Educational Seminar-Mandated Prescription Drug Monitoring Penn, Casey July 2017 14 1 114
WHWD Questions Continue to Mount on PDMP Mandate Wroten, David October 2017 78 4 114
WHWD Proposals for Prescribing Opioids to Arkansas Patients Wroten, David March 2018 196 9 114
Opioid Prescribing in Arkansas and Next Steps Hays, Ortiz, Martin, Hudson, Robertson, Aram, Smith March 2018 200 9 114
WHWD Excessive Prescribing-Regulation 2.4 Wroten, David June 2018 268 12 114
Will Medical Marijuana Reverse the Opioid Crisis Over, Darrell, MD MSc July 2018 4 1 115
Opioid Reduction Efforts-An Ongoing Battle Penn, Casey October 2018 80 4 115
A Closer Look at AR-IMACT Penn, Casey November 2018 102 5 115
ASMB Regulation 2.4 Penn, Casey November 2018 105 5 115
MAT Could it work in your clinic? Penn, Casey December 2018 126 6 115
Alcohol and Substance Abuse in Older Adults Compton, Denise, PhD January 2019 158 7 115
Prescription Drug Regulations in AR and DEA Penn, Casey July 2019 22 1 116
Dealing with Drug Seeking Patients Penn, Casey November 2019 104 5 116

About the SUD Task Force

The committee is chaired by Danny Wilkerson, MD;  other committee members include Appathurai Balamurugan, MD; Johnathan Goree, MD; Gene Shelby, MD; Michael Mancino, MD; and Joseph Miller, MD.

For additional information, contact Laura Haywood at lhaywood@arkmed.org.