Attention: Pharmacy and Medical Providers New Opioid Educational Resources for Providers

New information related to managing Opioid usage by NC Medicaid and NC Health Choice (NCHC) beneficiaries has been published by the NC Division of Medical Assistance (DMA). DMA realizes that the upcoming changes in Opioid criteria will impact prescribing behavior and have partnered with Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) to communicate these changes and provide educational resources to NC providers. The new educational resources include:

• Prior Approval Criteria for Opioid Analgesics
• Non-Opioid Alternatives
• DMA Opioid Safety – STOP Act Crosswalk
• FAQ on Naloxone Standing Order
• Provider Considerations for Tapering of Opioids
• NC DMA Preferred Drug List Opioid Daily MME

Links to these Opioid educational resources are on the NC DMA Outpatient Pharmacy Services web page and the Pharmacy Services web page of the NCTracks provider portal.

For more information about the changes to Opioid criteria, refer to the August 2017 Medicaid Bulletin and the July 2017 Pharmacy Newsletter.