The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently released materials related to the new Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act. The Act requires new or renewing DEA registrants, as of June 27, 2023, to have completed a total of at least eight hours of accredited continuing education (CE) on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders before renewing their license.

The MATE Act expands opportunities for practitioners to fulfill their training requirements, including via accredited CE. The full guidance is available here and letter from the DEA. 

If you attended the 2020, 2021, 2022 or 2023 TPS Scientific Conferences OR have completed any TPS online CME courses, you have already earned partial credit!

Download helpful instructions to guide you along the way. 

Find answers to your FAQs below

What are your options for completing this requirement?

1. A total of 8-hours of training from a range of training entities on opioid or other substance use disorders

    See further information below.

2. Board certification in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry from the American Board of Medical Specialties, American Board of Addiction Medicine, or the American Osteopathic Association; or
3. Graduation within 5 years and in good standing from a medical, advanced practice nursing, or physician assistant school in the United States that included successful completion of an opioid or other substance use disorder curriculum of at least 8 hours. This curriculum must have included teaching on the treatment and management of patients with opioid and other substance use disorders, including the appropriate clinical use of all drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of a substance use disorder.
   

How many hours of CME credit are required?

• Eight.

When must clinicians complete the requirement?

• Beginning June 27, 2023, practitioners must have completed the one-time education requirement before applying for a license for the first time or to have their license renewed.

How often are DEA licenses renewed?

• DEA licenses renew every three years. 

What clinicians must fulfill the requirement?

• All DEA-registered practitioners, with the exception of practitioners that are solely veterinarians.

What clinicians are deemed to have already satisfied this training requirement?

• Physicians who are board-certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry. 
• Practitioners who have graduated from their professional school within 5 years of June 27, 2023 or 5 years of their license renewal following June 27, 2023, and completed a curriculum that included at least eight hours of coursework regarding SUD during that time.
• Practitioners who previously took training to meet the requirements of the DATA-2000 waiver to prescribe buprenorphine can count this training towards the 8-hour training requirements.

Can one educational activity or combinations of multiple educational activities (e.g., courses, enduring materials, online activities, etc.) meet the requirement? Are there format restrictions?

• The eight (8) required hours of training can be provided through different activity formats (e.g., live, online, enduring, etc.) and do not have to be completed in one session and can be satisfied through a combination of activities. 

How can clinicians show they have completed courses that meet these requirements? 

• Any TPS CME Courses online that meet the MATE requirements which are completed on or after 4/27/23 will have a certificate generated that specifies certification. 
• Any courses, live or online, that were completed before 4/27/23 will reflect appropriately in CME Passport. (This capability is NOT YET LIVE. The ACCME is working on adding functionality.) CME Passport is the all-in-one CME management tool built by ACCME, the national accrediting authority for continuing medical education. NOTE: After every completed course, TPS asks if you approve the uploading of your transcript to CME Passport. If you have selected "no" to any of your completed courses, your courses will not be completely visible. 

In light of the elimination of the DATA-Waiver (X-waiver) requirement, do I need to take any action to get an updated DEA registration certificate?

• No action is needed on the part of registrants, as a result of the statutory repeal of 21 U.S.C. 823(h)(2). On December 29, 2022, with the signing of the CAA1 , Congress eliminated the DATA-Waiver requirement. Specifically, Pub. L. No. 117-328, div. FF, tit. I(B), ch. 6, § 1262(a)(1), 136 Stat. 4459, 5681 (2022) removed the federal requirement for practitioners to apply for a special waiver prior to prescribing buprenorphine for the treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). It also removed the requirement for the assignment of an identification number (i.e., Xwaiver number) associated with being a DATA-waived provider, for inclusion with the registration issued to the practitioner. 21 U.S.C. 823(h)(2)(D)(ii).

• If you are currently registered with DEA as a DATA-Waived (X-waiver) practitioner, you will be receiving an updated DEA registration certificate to reflect the elimination of your X-waiver unique identification number. Your existing (standard) DEA registration number will remain the same. No additional action is necessary on your part to remove the DATA-Waiver designation from your DEA registration.

• As DEA informed registrants by letter on January 12, 2023, “a DATA-Waiver registration is no longer required to treat patients with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder. Going forward, all prescriptions for buprenorphine only require a standard DEA registration number.