Through its partnership with the PCSS-O and PCSS-MAT programs, CPNP applied for and received a $5000 grant to produce a webinar focused on Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) for pharmacists. This grant award followed on the heels of the CPNP Substance Abuse Task Force (SATF) publication of NALOXONE ACCESS: A Practical Guideline for Pharmacists in early 2015.
The grant from PCSS-O supported the production of a webinar “Putting Naloxone into Action!” that was delivered live on Aug 13 2015 and is now archived but available on the CPNP and PCSS-O websites. There were over 80 attendees who participated in the live 60 minute webinar and received 1 hour of ACPE credit for doing so. Eighty-nine individuals have completed the webinar training since it was archived.
The webinar planning committee consisted of SATF members Chris Stock, James Gasper, Theo Pikoulas, CPNP staffer Brenda Schimenti, Shannon Saldana and Jeff Bratberg. Drs. Stock, Gasper, Pikoulas, Saldana, and Bratberg served as faculty of the webinar which outlined the action steps pharmacists should go through in order to implement OEND into their practice sites.
Dr. Bratberg developed a model describing OEND implementation strategies. The webinar faculty refined his model and developed the steps to follow when implementing OEND in various pharmacy practice settings. OEND Practice Models vary by state and depend on whether states have passed a “naloxone access” law and whether that law or the state’s pharmacy practice regulations specify if collaborative practice agreements, standing orders or a specific protocol must be followed. Dr. Stock moderated the webinar and presented an overview of naloxone dispensing when a prescription is presented while Dr. Pikoulas reviewed the steps to take in states (like North Carolina) where a standing order allows pharmacists to dispense naloxone. Dr. Bratberg reviewed steps to take in states (like Rhode Island) that allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone using a collaborative practice agreement followed by Dr. Gasper who reviewed steps to take in states (like California) that allow pharmacists to prescribe and dispense naloxone independently. Lastly, Dr. Saldana reviewed the steps to incorporate OEND practice throughout a large healthcare system.
Next up for the Task Force is to update NALOXONE ACCESS to incorporate any relevant changes to states’ laws and to include information about the newly approved intranasal naloxone product.