Pathway to a Healthier Kentucky through Expansion of MAT Waiver Training (Year 3)

Project Title: PAthway to a Healthier Kentucky through Expansion of MAT Waiver Training Abstract Ranking 7th in the United States for drug overdose deaths, Kentucky is uniquely poised to demonstrate the impact increasing access to Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) will have on communities. Kentucky Physician Assistants (PAs) are in a distinctive position to provide access to such life-saving treatment as Kentucky is the 50th state to grant prescriptive authority to PAs for schedule III-IV medications. The current COVID-19 pandemic illuminates the need to expand MAT services as according to the CDC, by May 2020, eighty-one thousand drug overdose deaths were reported with opioids being a major contributor. Prior to the pandemic in 2019, 1,380 Kentuckians lost their lives as a result of opioid overdose. At the University of Kentucky alone, the number of patients receiving treatment for opioid use disorder related health complications more than quintupled over 9 years leading up to 2018. Moreover, Medicaid expenditures average $18,511 per patient evaluated in Emergency Departments for opioid use disorder related health needs and as of July 2020, Medicaid serves 1.5 million Kentuckians. Healthcare costs combined with barriers related to social determinants of health create an environment in Kentucky rich for change. Integration of MAT waiver training into curriculum at the University of Kentucky Physician Assistant (UKPA) Program will propel transformation in our communities by graduating competent, compassionate PAs to expand MAT services in our state. In the Fall of 2020, UKPA initiated 8 hours of MAT waiver training into our didactic curriculum. With support of this SAMHSA grant, we propose to add additional training to our curriculum to include completion of the total 24 hours of MAT waiver training prior to graduation, standardized patient simulations prior to students’ clinical year, and expand training to our alumni, faculty, and preceptors. To measure the impact of our initiatives to expand MAT waiver training, PAs pursuing DATA waivers and prescribing MAT, we will distribute voluntary surveys with monetary incentive to respond. First, we will invite UKPA alumni at their one-year graduation anniversary to complete a voluntary survey to collect data regarding the number of alumni obtaining DATA waivers. This contact also provides an opportunity to offer support and guidance to alumni about delivering MAT services to fellow Kentuckians. Then, at their second anniversary, we will distribute a voluntary survey to capture how many alumni prescribe MAT and an approximate number of patients that are being reached by these initiatives. We will follow similar methods to expand MAT waiver training to our faculty, other alumni, and MAT trainers to reach over 168 professionals and pre-professionals. A PAthway to a healthier Kentucky will be created by increasing the number of PA faculty, students, alumni, and UKPA preceptors trained, obtaining their DATA waiver, and prescribing MAT.