MATE Training for Buprenorphine Prescribers

Historically, buprenorphine prescriptions with an indication of opioid dependence were an easy recoupment when an X-DEA number wasn’t included on the hardcopy. However, as discussed in our February 2023 Newsline article, XDEA Numbers Have Been NiXed…but Not the Training, X-DEA numbers are no longer required due to the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, found in Section 1262 of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023”. Instead, there are now training requirements for DEA registrants before being able to prescribe buprenorphine prescriptions. Beginning on June 27, 2023, Section 1263 of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023”, the Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act, requires all new or renewing DEA registrants to have met at least one of the following requirements when submitting their DEA registration application:

• A cumulative eight hours of training from approved organizations on opioid or other substance use disorders for practitioners prescribing any Schedule II-V controlled substance medications
• Board certification in Addiction Medicine or Addiction Psychiatry from specific medical specialty boards
• Graduated within the previous five years and “in good standing from medical, advanced practice nursing, or physician assistant school in the US that included successful completion of an opioid or other substance use disorder curriculum of at least eight hours”

How does this relate to your pharmacy?