The National Advisory Board for the 2013 National Rx Drug Abuse Summit announces a Call for Presenters for the conference, to be held April 2-4, 2013, at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate. All presentations should focus on the theme: “Make An Impact.”
Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, October 31, 2012.
Conference sessions will again follow five Educational Tracks – Clinical, Education & Advocacy, Workforce Development, Treatment, and Law Enforcement – tailored to provide stakeholders timely and relevant information for their particular field in order to bring meaningful dialogue and cooperation to issues addressing the prescription drug abuse epidemic.
A special focus for 2013 will be issues involving veterans and drug-exposed infants.
Clinical
Medical professionals spend a great deal of their time and resources treating patients with injuries and illnesses that resulted from substance abuse, dealing with increased prescribing requirements and clinician safety issues. Healthcare providers are often caught in difficult circumstances regarding Rx drug dependency and quality of patient care. Clinically-driven training to identify substance use problems are critically important for curbing this epidemic.
Topics for these sessions will include drug-exposed infants, state policy issues, patient education strategies regarding addiction, prescription monitoring programs, impact on increased healthcare costs, insurance fraud and potential legal consequences for medical professionals.
Speakers in this track will include physicians, pharmacists, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, dentists, psychologists, psychiatrists, hospital administrators, and others interested in the impact of prescription drug abuse upon the healthcare industry.
Education & Advocacy
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that in the U.S. an average of 2,000 teenagers use prescription medication for the first time without a physician’s guidance. This trend has a very real and lasting impact on families, communities and the education system.
Topics for this track include: community education, urban vs. rural advocacy, prevention programs, teaching at-risk youth, education for soldiers in the military, the cost to schools, tell-tale behaviors of addiction, signs and symptoms of prescription drug abuse, truancy, school safety, drug testing in schools, athlete’s drug use trends, education for school nurses, day treatment and alternative schools, and steroid use.
Speakers in this track will include community advocates, educators, volunteers, local, state and federal legislators, and others.
Workforce Development
According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (CAIF), drug diversion costs health insurers up to $72.5 billion a year in bogus claims involving opioid abuse alone. Workers dealing with addiction issues, either personally or within their family, become a liability instead of an asset. When this occurs, employers need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to assist their employees while protecting their own well-being.
These presentations will outline the scope of abuse, detail specific economic and legal impact to employers, provide successful strategies for managing risks, guide human resources staff on workplace support, share strategies to support employees with a suspected addiction, empower employees to become involved in community anti-drug efforts, define what impact third parties can have, and explain steps that can be taken to lower worker’s compensation costs.
Speakers in this track will include insurance providers and payers, human resources executives, economic development officials, local, state, and federal officials, social workers, worker’s compensation officials, and others.
Treatment
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA), opiate admissions for prescription drugs rose from 8% in 1999 to 33% in 2009. In addition, benzodiazepine abuse treatment admissions have tripled from 1998 to 2008. Additionally, an increased trend in Rx drug abuse within the military not only provides challenges for the military to treat its soldiers, but also requires the community to play an active role in treatment once the soldiers return home.
In the Treatment track we will explore: treating patients in times of budget cuts, strategic policy needs, latest addiction research, innovative treatment programs, incarceration vs. treatment, motivational interviewing, detox, chronic pain and addiction, continuity of care, healing families, generational drug use, the marketing of treatment services, treating those with poly drug addiction, involuntary treatment, drug courts, dual diagnosis, mental health and substance abuse parity, treatment retention, building community support for treatment, among other topic matters.
Speakers in this track will include drug and alcohol counselors, executives from treatment centers, social workers, researchers, policy experts and others.
Law Enforcement
According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), prescription drugs are now the second most abused category of drugs behind marijuana and ahead of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs. Law enforcement officers working narcotics investigations, as well as street patrol, witness the devastation of these drugs every day. They understand how Rx drug abuse is affecting other crimes in record numbers, and need more tools to combat the illicit activity.
Topics for this track will include officer safety, undercover investigations, drug trafficking organizations and pill mills, gang organizations, narcotics task forces, prescription drug trends, incarceration, border/homeland security issues, public corruption, community support for law enforcement, and related policy issues.
Speakers in this track will include local, state, and federal law enforcement and criminal justice officials, state and federal prosecutors, policy experts, private investigators, local, state and federal legislators, and others.
For More Information
Questions about the Call for Presenters should be addressed to Eric Rice at erice@centertech.com or 606-657-3218.
