The Tennessee Foundation for Quality Patient Healthcare (TFQPH), TMA’s 501(c)(3), was awarded a $1.5 million dollar grant from the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council in March of 2024. Over the next three years the TFQPH will use the grant to create new and updated education for all prescribers in Tennessee.

To accomplish this goal, the TFQPH recruited a task force of 17 participants and five subject-matter experts, all of whom have first-hand experience with the effects of the opioid epidemic. This team, made up of doctors from across specialties, along with other professionals from nurses, certified PAs, law enforcement, pharmacy, and counseling, will help guide TFQPH on what information prescribers really need and what is the most important.

The task force gathered at TMA Headquarters in Nashville, Tenn. December 5-6 to kick off execution. During the initial meeting, task force members spent time getting to know each other along with setting goals for prescriber education and identifying requirements and constraints. Several meetings will be held over the coming months to solidify a path forward.

The TFQPH and TMA will be utilizing the healthcare change model from the Ingram Institute’s Leadership Lab to help determine the content of the course. An accompanying public relations campaign will also be launched to compliment the course for prescribers and educate the public. Once launched, the education will be available for free to all prescribers in Tennessee and will meet the BME’s Tennessee requirements.

Throughout the years, TMA has been committed to fighting the opioid epidemic through education, and this grant will help us continue those efforts. The association stives to be on the forefront of education needs for all prescribers.

The Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council was established by the Tennessee General Assembly with the goal of how to best spend the dollars received from lawsuits related to the opioid crisis. For more information about TMA’s efforts to fight the opioid epidemic, please contact TMA’s Program Development Manager, Sara Balsom, at sara.balsom@tnmed.org.