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Continuing Education - Continuing Professional Development for Today's Healthcare Professionals

Protecting Patient Rights in Opioid Use Disorder: What Clinicians Need to Know


 

Overview

This online course focuses on strengthening legal and regulatory competencies among health professionals who provide care to individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD), an area of practice that clinicans rarely receive formal training despite its significant impact on patient outcomes and access to care. Each module addresses different considerations for protecting patient rights and improving access to buprenorphine for OUD. The content reflects input from healthcare and legal experts through a collaboration between the Pharmacy Addictions Research & Medicine (PhARM) Program at The University of Texas at Austin and the O'Neill Institute Center on Addiction & Public Policy at Georgetown University Law Center.

The course is part of the Texas Opioid Training Initiative (TXOTI.org), an initiative that promotes evidence-based practices to reduce opioid and other substance-related risk in Texas communities.


Registration (FREE)

  • Register for this activity using the BLUE Continue button at the bottom of this page.
  • After registration is complete, save your email & password and bookmark this page for easier access in the future.
  • Course Access:  Once you are registered and logged in (My Account appears at the top right), course content becomes accessible via the Course Module(s) tab.
  • Returning to the Course: If you need to return to the course later, click Login in the upper right corner of the screen and enter your email and password. Do not use the blue button to log back in – the button is for first-time access only.
  • See Continuing Education Credit for detailed course completion requirements.

Fee

$0.00

CE Hours

2.00

CE Units

0.200

Activity Type

Knowledge

Target Audience(s)

Pharmacists
Pharmacy Technicians
Physicians
Psychiatrists
Physician Assistant
Social Workers
Counselors
Advance Practice Nurses (CME)
Nurse Practitoners (CME)
Nurses

 

Course Module(s)

Civil Rights and Disability Protections for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder
   

Civil Rights and Disability Protections for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder

IMPORTANT: Review all module materials before you Take the Test. 

Learning Objectives

  • Review Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protections and civil rights obligations for patients with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).
  • Identify healthcare practices that are prohibited by civil rights protections for patients with opioid use disorder.
  • Describe litigation trends shaping access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) nationwide and across Texas.

Presenter(s)

Shelly Weizman, JD
Associate Director, Center on Addiction and Public Policy
O’Neill Institute, Georgetown Law
 
Shelly Weizman, JD is a human rights lawyer specializing in addiction, mental health, and disability law and policy. Her current work at Georgetown is focused on translating science and evidence into public policy. She is faculty in Georgetown’s Master of Science in Addiction Policy and Practice. She previously served in state government, both in the Office of the Governor of New York and in the New York State Office of Mental Health, implementing systemic reforms within New York’s public mental health, substance use disorder, and developmental disability service delivery systems. She began her legal career as a civil rights attorney representing people in institutional settings in New York City. 
 
Joseph Longley, JD
Staff Attorney
American Civil Liberties Union Disability Rights Program
 
Joseph Longley is a staff attorney with the ACLU Disability Rights Program. In this role, he litigates cases vindicating the rights of individuals withsubstance use disorder. Prior to this role, he was a Senior Advisor with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, a Project Director atGeorgetown's O'Neill Institute, and an Equal Justice Works fellow with the ACLU National Prison Project. He also clerked for Judge Roy McLeese of theD.C. Court of Appeals. 

Financial Disclosure(s)

None of the planners, authors, reviewers, or others in control of educational content for this activity have any relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

Activity Number

0067-0000-26-063-H08-P/T

Release Date: Jul 1, 2026
Credit Expiration Date: Jul 1, 2029

CE Hours

1.00
   

Evolving Privacy Considerations for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder
   

Evolving Privacy Considerations for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder

IMPORTANT: Review all module materials before you Take the Test. 

Learning Objectives

  • Examine how HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 apply to the treatment and care of patients with opioid use disorder.
  • Identify differences in sharing, storing, and transmitting patient records from Part 2 programs versus general practice.
  • Describe how to handle law enforcement requests for records identifying patients with opioid use disorder.

Presenter(s)

Jacqueline Seitz, JD
Deputy Director of Health Privacy
Legal Action Center
 
Jacqueline Seitz, JD is an attorney focused on the privacy and legal rights of people with substance use disorders, including under 42 CFR Part 2 and HIPAA. Jackie is the lead author of Confidentiality and Communication, a reference book on federal health privacy law, and has trained thousands of providers nationwide. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and NYU School of Law.

Financial Disclosure(s)

None of the planners, authors, reviewers, or others in control of educational content for this activity have any relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

Activity Number

0067-0000-26-064-H08-P/T

Release Date: Jul 1, 2026
Credit Expiration Date: Jul 1, 2029

CE Hours

0.50
   

Pharmacy Privacy Considerations with Opioid Use Disorder – The Patient Perspective
   

Pharmacy Privacy Considerations with Opioid Use Disorder – The Patient Perspective

IMPORTANT: Review all module materials before you Take the Test. 

Learning Objectives

  • Describe the patient perspective on privacy considerations when filling controlled substance prescriptions for opioid use disorder (OUD).
  • Recognize how stigma affects patient experience at the pharmacy.
  • Explain how pharmacies can ensure confidentiality and protection of private information when dispensing medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).
  • Apply a consent-based, contextual approach to patient consultation when dispensing medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

Presenter(s)

Sara Young, LPC, LCDC
Psychotherapist, Patient Advocate, Person with Lived Experience
 
Sara Young, LPC, LCDC has worked with patients on MOUD over the last 15 years. She has worked as a case manager and counselor in residential treatment and as a therapist/program manager in community health office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) programs. She identifies as a person “on a recovery journey” and as a person with lived experience on MOUD, Her personal experience as a patient and patient advocate contribute to her passion for all facets of this work.

Financial Disclosure(s)

None of the planners, authors, reviewers, or others in control of educational content for this activity have any relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

Activity Number

0067-0000-26-065-H08-P/T

Release Date: Jul 1, 2026
Credit Expiration Date: Jul 1, 2029

CE Hours

0.50
   

Continuing Education Credit

Continuing Education Credit
   

Continuing Education Credit

Steps to Complete Modules for CE Credit

This online activity is approved for a maximum of 0.2 CEUs (2.0 contact hours) of continuing education credit.

To earn CE credit for each module:

  • Make sure you are registered and logged in (My Account should appear in the top right of the screen).
  • Select a module by clicking one of the light blue tabs listed under Course Module(s).
  • View the module video and course resources.
  • Take the post-test and review answer feedback (no minimum score required).
  • Submit the evaluation to earn CE credit. A certificate with CE credit can be accessed by clicking My Account at the top right of the page, then View/Print CE Credit. The CE certificate remains available in the learner's CE profile for future access.
  • NOTE: Pharmacy CE credit is automatically transmitted via CPE Monitor using the NABP e-profile ID entered during registration.
  • NOTE: CME credit, you will be asked to provide your license number and date of birth (day/month) at the end of the course evaluation for credit to be uploaded to PARS. Please allow up to one month for credit(s) to appear.

Visit the CE accreditation information to view the different types of CE credit offered for this course. 

   

Funding Disclosure

Funding Disclosure
   

Funding Disclosure

Funding Statement

This presentation is supported by the Texas Targeted Opioid Response, a public health initiative operated by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission through federal funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, grant award number 1H79TI087739.

The views expressed in this online course do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, Texas Health and Human Services, University of Texas System, UT Austin, the U.S. or Texas Government, or any of the entities they represent.

   

Questions

Questions
   

Questions

If you have questions about course content or CE credit, please email the UT College of Pharmacy Continuing Education Office: UTpharmacyCE@austin.utexas.edu