Methadone clinic question

[isaacsrd]

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Hello! I am currently a PIC at a methadone clinic in Virginia, I really like my job but I think I could do more here. My proposal that I've told my boss about is that I could enter a collaborative practice agreement with the doctor and I could manage the patients doses (increases, decreases, phase changes, etc.) and meet with patients to do med recs and full assessments or just to talk about a dose increase. She loves the idea but is unsure about what the laws have to say about this since it's a CII medication. I've been trying to research it for the past couple weeks but I haven't found much clear information. I wouldn't do any prescribing of the methadone, and we would go off a protocol that the doctor creates for any changes in doses. Does anyone have any experience in this or knowledge of the legality?

Thanks in advance 🙂

 

[Dred Pirate]

I can't say I know the answer, but I know there are a lot of restrictions on the methadone clinics, and i wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this was not allowed by the DEA. Are you in a state that has clinical pharmacist practitioners?

 

[trynapassdamjpe]

Hello! I am currently a PIC at a methadone clinic in Virginia, I really like my job but I think I could do more here. My proposal that I've told my boss about is that I could enter a collaborative practice agreement with the doctor and I could manage the patients doses (increases, decreases, phase changes, etc.) and meet with patients to do med recs and full assessments or just to talk about a dose increase. She loves the idea but is unsure about what the laws have to say about this since it's a CII medication. I've been trying to research it for the past couple weeks but I haven't found much clear information. I wouldn't do any prescribing of the methadone, and we would go off a protocol that the doctor creates for any changes in doses. Does anyone have any experience in this or knowledge of the legality?

Thanks in advance 🙂

I just relocated to VA and have seen ads for PICs at these clinics and it's always a part time job which seems a little odd. I wonder if you could tell me if this is 20 hours a week? 30 hours a week?

Having recently studied VA law for the exam, I can't say that I've seen any laws that limit collaborative practice agreements to noncontrolled drugs.