Calls and email inquiries have been rolling in steadily since late August, when the Board received final approval to establish a new requirement for physicians and physician assistants (PAs) to earn continuing medical education (CME) in controlled substances prescribing.

Effective, July 1, 2017, any physician or PA who prescribed controlled substances of any kind (in­cluding non-opioids) during their most recent CME cycle will be expected to meet the requirement. This includes licensees who participate in Maintenance of Certification (MOC), even though these licensees are exempt from the general requirement to report CME hours to NCMB.

One question that has come up frequently is how physicians and PAs who are participants in certification programs will determine a CME cycle for the purpose of complying with the controlled substances CME requirement. NCMB has not made a final determination for how it will calculate CME cycles for physicians participating in MOC. The answer for how PAs should determine a CME cycle is below:

Q: How should a physician assistant (PA) determine his or her two-year CME cycle for the purpose of complying with the new controlled substances CME requirement?

A: PAs who maintain NCCPA certification, and are exempt from the general requirement to report CME hours to the Board, may use their current NCCPA two-year cycle.

PAs who currently report CME hours to the Board should use the two-year cycle that started the first birthday after they obtained state licensure.

The most important thing is to obtain the required CME, and to be consistent with the two-year cycle you choose to follow for the purpose of recording and reporting CME.

More questions about the new CME requirement?
For FAQs and information visit NCMB's controlled substances CME requirement resource page