About

Funding

BupPractice was developed by Clinical Tools, Inc (CTI) with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant #N44DA65530). We gratefully acknowledge this support, which was the sole funding source for this project’s development.

Purpose

The lack of transfer from research into clinical practice is a challenge in all of medicine, including substance abuse treatment. There is a clear need for more primary care physicians to become involved in office-based buprenorphine practices and for research evidence to support the effectiveness of treatment, but few existing tools or resources are available to help primary care physicians (PCPs) translate this research into practice.

Development

This project has developed a collection of tools and resources to support primary care physicians (PCPs) in setting up and providing office-based treatment for opioid dependence and to aid PCPs who manage and refer patients being maintained on buprenorphine.

Continuing Education Mission Statement

Clinical Tools, Inc. combines medicine, science, and technology to provide state-of-the-art online and training and education to improve patient care. 

We strive to enhance the knowledge, skills, and practice of health care providers and trainees so they can improve patient health. Our standard incorporates the most up-to-date research and expert opinion. The company identifies content areas that are under-represented in current CME curricula, are skills-oriented and would benefit from internet delivery – including innovative uses of emerging technology.

Activity content is determined by analysis of gaps in performance, knowledge and competence, and patient outcomes, including national guidelines, best practices reports, user surveys, literature review, and consultations with experts. Our focus is on creating clinical skills-based training activities and evaluating each activity using metrics that relate to the targeted skills. Successful activities will improve competence, performance, skills, use of best practices, and patient outcomes. The impact is evaluated using both qualitative and quantitative methods to assure quality and to measure competence, skills, and behaviors essential to providing quality patient care and improving outcomes.

Clinical Tools does not participate in the delivery of complete and finalized training experiences.  Nor do we participate when decisions have already been made regarding the practice gaps, content, delivery, authorship, or the assessment of the intervention.  We only provide Category I CME (TM) for an activity when we are closely involved in meeting all of the ACCME requirements, including the collection, storage, and analysis of data on the impact of the activity on competence, performance, or patient outcomes.

No Industry Support

All materials on this website were developed in an industry-fund-free environment. No industry funding was used to create this website or these educational activities.

Impact

BupPractice is designed to positively impact buprenorphine patient outcomes via online training for providers. In addition to providing the knowledge and skills needed to prescribe buprenorphine safely and effectively, BupPractice highlights ways to collaborate and communicate effectively with patients using a patient-centered approach, including information sharing, respect, support, and patient empowerment.

Providers who complete BupPractice will be able to establish rapport and cultivate a collaborative relationship with his or her patients. Patients who are engaged in their own treatment are more likely to pay attention to and follow important instructions regarding treatment. Additionally, providers will understand the importance of developing an accepting and supportive atmosphere to help patients return to treatment if they relapse, a point at which many patients are tempted to leave treatment.

Accreditation

Clinical Tools, Inc. is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Clinical Tools, Inc. is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEPTM) and may offer NBCC-approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements. The ACEP solely is responsible for all aspects of the activity.

Dissemination

Clinical Tools, and its gaming division Health Impact Studio, strives to share knowledge gained through the testing and use of its products. You can see our latest conference presentations, as well as our published research articles, at the Health Impact Studio site.

Future Plans

We will utilize our BupPractice curriculum to expand on further topics regarding opioid use, addiction, and treatment in other training activities. We envision that our bundled activities will be sold as a training tool for medical provider groups / offices in order to provide consistent and up-to-date education on this topic. This source of revenue will support any ongoing work needed to refine the product and allow consistent group training for these providers.

Acknowledgments

The site has been put through multiple rounds of iterative usability testing with primary care physicians and revised and improved according to feedback. The contributions of our panel of expert reviewers have also been instrumental in the development of this website. Thanks also to the CTI staff members who helped to develop this website. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback as we developed the materials for this site.

BupPractice Program Releases

• Buprenorphine Training Program v1.0 (Valid 2008-2011)
• Buprenorphine Training Program v2.0 (Valid 2012-2013)
• Buprenorphine Training Activity v3.0 (Valid 2014-2015)
• Buprenorphine Training Activity v4.0 (Valid 2015-2018)
• Buprenorphine Training Activity v5.0 (Valid 2018-2021)