NCMB recently won a national award recognizing its comprehensive efforts to address inappropriate opioid prescribing and improve the quality of pain management care in North Carolina. The “Best in Boards” award from Administrators in Medicine (AIM) recognizes a state medical board for an outstanding project or initiative that demonstrates the agency’s commitment to finding creative and innovative ways to tackle challenges in medicine or medical regulation. NCMB received the award during AIM’s annual meeting in Charlotte in late April.

Awards are given based on how well a project or initiative reflect the Board’s support for its public protection mission, commitment to educating both the public and medical professionals, and ability to work with partners to solve the identified problem. Specifically, NCMB was recognized for its Safe Opioid Prescribing Initiative, which encompasses several components, including:

• A proactive investigative program that, using data from the NC Controlled Substances Reporting System and NC Medical Examiner’s office, identifies potentially unsafe prescribers;


• Development and implementation of a CME requirement for controlled substances prescribers and a related statewide campaign that connected thousands of NC prescribers with free high-quality opioid prescribing CME; and


• Broad efforts to inform and engage with the public and licensed medical professionals on the topic of responsible opioid prescribing through live presentations, online resource pages, social media campaigns, development of FAQs, bill summaries, notices and other resources.