Rushford Medical Staff Helps Train Future Prescribers

Medication-assisted treatment has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to treat opioid addiction and address the ongoing epidemic – but there continues to be a shortage of prescribers for the medication.

In order to get more physicians and nurse practitioners trained to prescribe buprenorphine, Rushford Medical Director J. Craig Allen, MD, and Medical Director for Addiction Services Samuel Silverman, MD, helped lead a training of providers in Connecticut in June 2017.

The eight-hour live training, which was funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) and organized by the treatment sub-committee of the Alcohol Drug Policy Committee for Connecticut, had one of the largest turn-outs and included doctors from Hartford HealthCare Medical Group.

The trainings were certified by the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry and the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and will continue to be offered for providers as part of Connecticut’s response to the opioid epidemic.