Weitzman ECHO MAT (December 20, 2022)

Program Information

Weitzman ECHO MAT sessions provide the front-line primary care provider and team with the support and expert advice that they need to gain confidence in their management of opioid dependence with buprenorphine.

Approximately 2 million Americans are affected by opioid dependence, including the use of heroin and, increasingly, the use of prescription pain medication. There are not enough addiction treatment facilities to keep up with this demand, so primary care is becoming a common setting for treatment.

Opioid dependence therapy with buprenorphine is one of the best evidence-based interventions to curb the crisis in the United States. Weitzman ECHO MAT sessions provide the front-line primary care provider and team with the support and expert advice that they need to gain confidence in their management of opioid dependence with buprenorphine.

Target Audience

This activity is appropriate for the following audiences:

  • Nurse Practitioners
  • Physicians
  • Psychologists and Counselors
  • Social Workers

Registration Information

Enrollment for Weitzman ECHO MAT is rolling and access is available for a subscription fee for one year based on the number of providers from your organization who would like access to this activity. Please contact us here if you would like more information or to sign up for this ECHO.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to do the following:

  • Discuss the management of opioid dependence and substance use disorder
  • Describe the benefits of opioid substitution therapy using group and individual counseling
  • Identify ways to expand access to buprenorphine maintenance therapy in primary care.
  • Identify the benefits of a team-based approach to medication assisted treatment
Activity summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.50 AAPA Category I CME
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide American Academy of PAs (AAPA) credit to physician assistants at its activities. Participants should only claim commensurate credit with the extent of their participation in the activity.
  • 1.50 ACE/ASWB
    Through Joint Accreditation Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) credit to social workers at its activities.
  • 1.50 ACPE
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) credit to pharmacists at its activities.
  • 1.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ to physicians at its activities via Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).
  • 1.50 ANCC
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) nursing credit to nurses at its activities.
  • 1.50 APA
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide American Psychological Association (APA) credit to psychologists at its activities.
  • 1.50 Participation Hour(s)
    You are able to download an unaccredited Participation Certificate for your records if you are not able to use any of the credit types provided for this activity or if this activity does not offer accredited CME/CE credits.
Activity opens: 
01/01/2022
Activity expires: 
01/31/2023

Schedule

This ECHO meets on the 4th Tuesday of every month from 12:30-2pm ET. Below are the dates for all remaining sessions:

  • May 24, 2022
  • June 28, 2022
  • July 26, 2022
  • August 23, 2022
  • September 27, 2022
  • October 25, 2022
  • November 22, 2022
  • December 27, 2022

Faculty

Marwan Haddad, MD, MHP, AAHIVS, is currently the Medical Director of the Center for Key Populations at Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC), the first center of its kind focused on engaging populations who traditionally experience barriers to comprehensive and respectful care. Dr. Haddad has over 15 years of experience as an HIV Specialist and 5 years of experience directing the Buprenorphine Maintenance Therapy Program at CHCI. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College and his medical degree from McGill University. He completed his family medicine residency at University of Toronto and obtained his Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. He has served as the ECHO Faculty Lead for CHCI’s Project ECHO MAT sessions since their inception in February 2013. Dr. Haddad has also served as the ECHO Faculty Lead for CHCI’s Project ECHO HIV/Hepatitis C sessions since their inception in 2012, and was instrumental in the implementation of Project ECHO HIV/HCV at CHCI.

Daniel Bryant, LPC, is the behavioral health expert on the Project ECHO CCM faculty team. He brings extensive experience and education in working with trauma and substance abuse and has worked in the Middletown community for the past three years. He works at CHC and spends most of his time treating adult and adolescent individual behavioral health clients. In addition, Dan runs the CHC Middletown Suboxone group, is a member of CHC’s Behavioral Health Quality Improvement Team, supervises Master’s level LPC interns, trains CHC’s Nurse Practitioner residents in substance abuse treatment and diagnosis, and facilitates the In It 2 Quit group to help individuals struggling to quit smoking. He also practices Complex Care Management in the community by coordinating care for CHC patients at a local shelter and working on the Middletown Community Care Team through Middlesex Hospital.

Michelle Geier, PharmD, BCPP, APH, is the Psychiatric Clinical Pharmacist Supervisor with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California School of Pharmacy. She has been the clinical pharmacist with SFDPH buprenorphine induction clinic since 2011. She also prescribes psychiatric and substance use disorders medications to a caseload of primarily dual diagnosis patients at one of the SFDPH county mental health clinics. She is board-certified in Psychiatric Pharmacology.

Briana Reaves, MBA, currently manages the medication assisted treatment program and is the site supervisor for the best practices AmeriCorps program at Community Health Center Inc. Ms. Reaves oversees four recovery care coordinators and assists them with daily care coordination for providers and patients. She works closely with the clinical and behavioral health staff to ensure that quality care is being provided. Ms. Reaves has over 6 years of experience in the public health field and is dedicated to providing care to the underrepresented populations within our communities. She holds an MBA with a concentration in health care management from Southern New Hampshire University and plans to continue her education to help better serve individuals that are in need.

Richard Feuer, MD, is a staff psychiatrist at Community Health Center, Inc. and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He is board-certified in Psychiatry and Neurology. He has served as a member of CHCI’s MAT ECHO faculty since the inception of the program in February 2013.

Weitzman Institute Disclosure Statement

It is the policy of the Weitzman Institute to ensure that Continuing Education (CE) activities are independent and free of commercial bias. To ensure educational content is objective, balanced, and guarantee content presented is in the best interest of its learners' and the public, the Weitzman Institute requires that everyone in a position to control educational content disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. An ineligible company is one whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Examples can be found at accme.org.

Faculty participating in a Weitzman Institute-sponsored activity must disclose to the planning committee and audience all financial or other relationship(s) with ineligible companies.

Faculty Disclosures

No faculty disclosed a relevant financial relationship for this program.

Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, Community Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credential Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Designation Statement

Through Joint Accreditation, Community Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) nursing credit to nurses and Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) credit to pharmacists at its activities.

By completing this activity you provide the Weitzman Institute permission to share completion data with the ACCME and the certifying board(s).

Joint Accreditation Logo

Available Credit

  • 1.50 AAPA Category I CME
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide American Academy of PAs (AAPA) credit to physician assistants at its activities. Participants should only claim commensurate credit with the extent of their participation in the activity.
  • 1.50 ACE/ASWB
    Through Joint Accreditation Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) credit to social workers at its activities.
  • 1.50 ACPE
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) credit to pharmacists at its activities.
  • 1.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ to physicians at its activities via Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).
  • 1.50 ANCC
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) nursing credit to nurses at its activities.
  • 1.50 APA
    Through Joint Accreditation, Moses/Weitzman Health Center, Inc./Weitzman Institute is able to provide American Psychological Association (APA) credit to psychologists at its activities.
  • 1.50 Participation Hour(s)
    You are able to download an unaccredited Participation Certificate for your records if you are not able to use any of the credit types provided for this activity or if this activity does not offer accredited CME/CE credits.
Please login or register to take this activity.

Enrollment for Weitzman ECHO MAT is rolling and access is available for a subscription fee for one year based on the number of providers from your organization who would like access to this activity. Please contact us here if you would like more information or to sign up for this ECHO.

Required Hardware/Software

  • This online activity requires use of a device connected to the Internet, such as a computer tablet or mobile device. 
  • The ECHO will take place over Zoom, which must be accessed directly from within the activity.