Alaska offers Nov. 12 training on updated ASAM addiction care criteria

The Alaska Division of Behavioral Health is encouraging providers to attend a one-day Zoom training Nov. 12 on The ASAM Criteria, Fourth Edition, the American Society of Addiction Medicine's guidelines for treating addiction and co-occurring conditions. The session for adult care runs 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Alaska time. Registration is open now.

The training is only for Alaska-based professionals who provide direct services and for supervisors or leaders of programs that employ direct service clinicians.

It covers the Fourth Edition's major updates: assessment and treatment planning, the continuum of care, admission criteria, level-of-care decisions, and transition and continued service criteria. Two ASAM Criteria experts will lead it, according to the registration page. Participants will apply the criteria to patient case scenarios and receive a workbook.

The society says states and payers are adopting the Fourth Edition at varying rates.

The state also plans a November training on screening for risky substance use, Alaska News reported Oct. 22.