Pain Management and Substance Use Resources
The Alliance is committed to working with community partners, supporting our providers and members, and jointly developing effective, resourceful and innovative strategies to change the course of the opioid and substance use crisis.
As complex problems require complex solutions, we are coordinating our efforts toward four key evidence-based areas:
- Prevention: Limiting the number of new members starting a path of chronic opioid use.
- Management: Promoting safer prescribing practices, helping identify members on high-risk regimens and working with providers and members to develop successful tapering plans.
- Treatment: Fostering medication-assisted treatment for substance use and streamlining access to these multimodal, essential services.
- Stopping overdose deaths: Educating providers, pharmacies, members and their families on the life-saving importance of naloxone for anyone who is prescribed opioids.
The resources below provide clinicians and members with evidence-based information, tools and best practices for safe, compassionate and effective care.
- CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain — United States, 2022 | MMWR - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Guidelines for Prescribing Controlled Substances for Pain - Medical Board of California
- Best Practices for Chronic Pain Management - Prescribe Safe Monterey County
- Common Comorbidities with Substance Use Disorders Research Report
- Opioids and Chronic Pain: A Guide for Primary Care Providers
- Complementary Health Approaches for Chronic Pain
- Opioid Use Disorder: A VA Clinician's Guide to Identification and Management of Opioid Use Disorder - S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
- Six Building Blocks: A Team-Based Approach to Improving Opioid Management in Primary Care
- Stigma Resources - National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
- Difficult Conversations - Oregon Pain Guidance (OPG)
- CURES | MBC (ca.gov) - Medical Board of California
- Naloxone (AB 2760) - Medical Board of California
- Approaches to Managing Benzodiazepines
- Tools for Pain Treatment & Management - Comprehensive list of useful, downloadable PDF tools and forms from OPG.
- Safe Pain Prescribing in Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Centers- Safe Med LA
- Opioid Tapering Flow Sheet - OPG
- Opioid Taper Decision Tool - VA
- Benzodiazepine Risks: Are You Aware of the Possible Risks from Taking Benzodiazepines? - VA
- Agency Medical Directors' Group - Opioid dosing and taper calculator.
- Opioid Conversion Calculator
Clinical Guidelines and Resources
- Resources for Opioid Treatment Providers - HHS
- Medication Assisted Treatment - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
- Tools for substance use disorder treatment - This CA Bridge resource includes comprehensive resources for hospital inpatient and emergency department settings.
- National Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder - American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)
- MAT Toolkit for Primary Care Providers - California Department of Health Care Services
- Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Playbook - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- Treatment of Stimulant Use Disorders - SAMHSA
PCP MAT Program
The Alliance’s Enhanced Primary Care Pain Management Program seeks to strengthen the network of PCPs through provision of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) services to their linked members. PCPs with X-licenses offering MAT for linked members will be paid fee-for-service rates for qualifying services.
To learn more, please reference Section 3 of the Alliance Provider Manual or contact a Provider Services Representative.
MAT Peer Support and Services
- MAT Advisory Group (MAT-AG) - In a partnership between SafeRx Santa Cruz County, Prescribe Safe Monterey and San Benito County, MAT-AG is a peer support and resource group of physicians, advanced practice clinicians and behavioral health providers focused on improving opioid use disorder treatment and capacity. To learn more, please email [email protected].
- California Substance Use Line - Free, 24/7 clinician tele-consultation service from University of California, San Francisco National Clinician Consultation Center.
- Clinical Mentoring for Treating OUD - PCSS
- UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Program Provider Support Initiative
- PCSS - Includes waiver training for providers, nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
- Health Improvement Partnership SCC - CME video series.
- Acupuncture
- Behavioral Health
- Chiropractic care
- Physical therapy
- Online health and wellness resources/programs
- Case management
- Patient Resources - ASAM
- Feel Better (English/Spanish) - Safe Rx Santa Cruz County
- Kaytlyn Garland - Recovery is Possible – Video.
- SAMHSA's National Helpline
- MAT Handouts for Patients and Family Members - PCSS
- Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life - University of California, Berkeley
- Mindful: Healthy Mind, Healthy Life
- Pain - National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
- Prescribe to Prevent - Patient education and information for providers and pharmacists.
- National Harm Reduction Coalition
For information on safe disposal of medications and sharps, visit our provider pharmacy page.
- Alliance provider pharmacy page
- Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) and Controlled Substance Prescriptions
- Discipline Spotlight: Pharmacists - Substance use and addiction resources, toolkits and courses for pharmacists by NIDA.
- Naloxone - Training, protocol and fact sheets for pharmacists.
- Sample Collaborative Practice Agreement: Pharmacist Protocol for Management of Opioid Use Disorders
- Harm Reduction Strategies for People Who Inject Drugs: Considerations for Pharmacists
- Removing the Stigma of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder - CPE available.
- California Pharmacists and Furnishing Naloxone: What You Need to Know
Contact Care Management
- Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- General and suitability questions:
Call 800-700-3874, ext. 5512 - Email: [email protected]
- Fax: 831-430-5852
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