Advocacy Update

May 3, 2018: State Advocacy Update

| 2 Min Read

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) last week adopted new policies that evaluate current state opioid prescribing policies as well as discuss artificial intelligence and its impact on patient safety, decision making, and regulation.

Haven't subscribed?

Stay current on the latest on the issues impacting physicians, patients and the health care environment with the AMA’s Advocacy Update newsletter.

The FSMB will also prepare a report that reviews acute opioid prescribing patterns, practice, federal laws and guidance, state rules and laws, and available data. The AMA testified in support of both actions. The FSMB also adopted reports on PDMPs, stem cell therapy, and physician wellness and burnout that provide guidance for state medical boards in addressing these areas of medical practice.

The AMA and American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) worked with Appriss Health, the developer of more than 40 state PDMP platforms, to ensure that buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid-use disorder has been removed from all displayed morphine milligram equivalent (MME) calculations throughout its system.

Appriss Health reported that it deployed a full system update on April 11, 2018, that clearly separates buprenorphine from opioids that are used for the treatment of chronic pain. The company also strengthened guidance to exclude medications used for medication-assisted treatment from Centers for for Disease Control and Prevent-recommended MME limits (i.e. 90 MME per day).

FEATURED STORIES

Fix Medicare now

Spending proposal means devastating 5th year of Medicare pay cuts

| 4 Min Read
Bustling hospital corridor

Medicare pay cuts: How they endanger physician practices

| 6 Min Read
One box marked with a check surrounded by many boxes marked with an x

How AI is leading to more prior authorization denials

| 6 Min Read
Health care team ascending a staircase

7 things Sutter Health did to turn the tide on physician burnout

| 6 Min Read