Funding
SBIRTtraining was developed by Clinical Tools, Inc (CTI) with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Contract #HHSN271200800038C). We gratefully acknowledge this support, which was the sole funding source for the development of this project.
No Industry Support
All materials on this website were developed in an industry-fund-free environment. No industry funding was used to create this website or these educational activities.
Purpose
Despite the fact that 20-25% of primary care patients are likely to have a current substance use or health-related problem (Pilowsky & Wu, 2012), there are low implementation rates for screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) in a primary care setting (Seale et al., 2010; CDC, 2017).
Due to insufficient SBIRT training, primary care providers not only lack confidence in assessing unhealthy substance use, but also express uncertainty in their ability to perform brief interventions and confusion regarding handling referrals for substance use patients who need a higher level of care than they can provide (Saitz, 2013).
Development
The content for SBIRTtraining was developed based on a review of the relevant literature and review by experts in substance use disorders and clinical practice. Resources needed to support these clinical skills are also provided within the module.
Our vision for continuing health professional development (CHPD) is to provide unbiased clinical training that improves competency and has an actual impact. Through the use of case vignettes, health professionals are trained and guided to use the training to take action in their practice toward changes and improvement that lead to improved patient outcomes. Our CHPD activities are built upon a coherent model emphasizing a practice gap related to knowledge, competence, performance, or anticipated patient outcomes. Skills training is emphasized over knowledge, although knowledge is provided where it is needed to support training to address documented practice gaps.
Continuing Education Mission Statement
Clinical Tools, Inc. combines medicine, science, and technology to provide state-of-the-art online and training and education to improve patient care.
We strive to enhance the knowledge, skills, and practice of health care providers and trainees so they can improve patient health. Our standard incorporates the most up-to-date research and expert opinion. The company identifies content areas that are under-represented in current CME curricula, are skills-oriented and would benefit from internet delivery – including innovative uses of emerging technology.
Activity content is determined by analysis of gaps in performance, knowledge and competence, and patient outcomes, including national guidelines, best practices reports, user surveys, literature review, and consultations with experts. Our focus is on creating clinical skills-based training activities and evaluating each activity using metrics that relate to the targeted skills. Successful activities will improve competence, performance, skills, use of best practices, and patient outcomes. The impact is evaluated using both qualitative and quantitative methods to assure quality and to measure competence, skills, and behaviors essential to providing quality patient care and improving outcomes.
Clinical Tools does not participate in the delivery of complete and finalized training experiences. Nor do we participate when decisions have already been made regarding the practice gaps, content, delivery, authorship, or the assessment of the intervention. We only provide Category I CME (TM) for an activity when we are closely involved in meeting all of the ACCME requirements, including the collection, storage, and analysis of data on the impact of the activity on competence, performance, or patient outcomes.
Impact
SBIRT Training is designed to positively impact patient outcomes in the realm of substance use by providing effective training in SBIRT skills for healthcare providers. In addition to providing the knowledge and skills needed, the activities provide the opportunity to practice skills learned through interactive case vignettes.
The learner will be able to appropriately screen for and identify substance abuse, plan and implement a tailored brief intervention, and will apply the SBIRT approach to substance abuse problems by individualizing these clinical skills to different patients. This knowledge will improve care management and referral skills for patients with relatively more severe substance use problems and improve follow-up and brief treatment skills for patients with substance use problems.
Our activity highlights ways to collaborate and communicate effectively with patients using a patient-centered approach, including information sharing, respect, support, and patient empowerment.
Accreditation
Clinical Tools, Inc. is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Clinical Tools, Inc. is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEPTM) and may offer NBCC-approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements. The ACEP solely is responsible for all aspects of the activity.
Summative Evaluation Results
The Summative Evaluation results summary showed significant improvements in Knowledge and Clinical Skills and high ratings for Satisfaction and Educational Value in Improving Knowledge and Competency.
Dissemination
Clinical Tools, and its gaming division Health Impact Studio, strives to share knowledge gained through the testing and use of its products. You can see our latest conference presentations, as well as our published research articles, at the Health Impact Studio site.
Future Plans
We will continue expanding our SBIRTtraining curriculum to include further topics regarding the acquisition of SBIRT skills. We envision that our bundled activities will be sold as a training tool for medical provider groups / offices in order to provide consistent and up-to-date education on this topic. This source of revenue will support any ongoing work needed to refine the product and allow consistent group training for these providers.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to the numerous individuals who participated in the project’s formative stage development, and to those who send us comments and feedback about the site. Thanks also to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) who worked with us on earlier versions of this program.
