8th Annual Pharmaceutical Contact Centers

January 26, 2009 - January 27, 2009

Prescribing Controlled Drugs: Critical Issues and Common Pitfalls of Misprescribing

University of South Florida - College of Medicine
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

November 12, 2008 - November 14, 2008

Research indicates that up to one third of the disciplinary actions taken by Medical Boards are related to misprescribing practices. Common problematic behaviors include inappropriately dispensing controlled substances from office practices, prescribing overly large doses or quantities of drugs to individual patients, prescribing at too-frequent intervals, and/or failing to document completely (or at all) the rationale for treatment. Misprescribing also includes writing scripts for family members, friends, or known drug addicts (before other forms of therapy have been tried).

The USF College of Medicine is pleased to be able to offer a 3-day CME course, originally developed by Dr. Andy Spickard and his colleagues at Vanderbilt Medical Center, which was designed to address misprescribing issues. Dr. Spickard collaborated with USF to allow expansion of this valuable CME resource.

For those attending the Prescribing Controlled Drugs Course, typical problem behaviors have included the inappropriate dispensing of medications from physician’s offices, prescribing large amounts of narcotics at too frequent intervals, or prescribing to family members, friends, or person with known histories of substance abuse. Oftentimes, the records of the physicians’ prescribing practices are poorly documented or non-existent.

This three day course includes components examining:

    * The participants' professional practices
    * Experiential exercises emphasizing increased self-awareness
    * Strategies to improve management of difficult patient problems
    * Establishing appropriate physician boundaries
    * Individualized learning through brief homework
    * Development of new skills in substance abuse identification and prescribing practice using the technique of role play
    * Specific case studies and discussions augment the experiential exercises
    * Development of a plan for changing ideas, skills, attitudes and behaviors that have contributed to misprescribing

Prescribing Controlled Drugs: Critical Issues and Common Pitfalls of Misprescribing

August 13, 2008 - August 15, 2008

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