A workshop on the epidemic of prescription medication abuse will be held in Smithville on Friday, February 20 at the DeKalb County Complex from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
“The Epidemic is Here” will offer CME’s for medical professionals but it is also open to all those who want to attend. The goal of this conference is not to alert people to the epidemic, but rather to discuss what can be done as a medical community to combat the problem. It will feature presentations on screening methods for addiction that are being used in medical facilities, better prescribing practices and the latest in treatment methods. It also serves as a fundraiser for the Community Advisory Board of DeKalb County with half the proceeds to benefit the DeKalb Foster Children’s Fund
The featured speaker will be Dr. Steven Lloyd, a recovering addict who treats addiction. Angela McKinney Jones, Director of Prevention Services for the state will also speak along with General Sessions/Juvenile Court Judge Bratten Cook, II.
DeKalb Drug Court Coordinator Norene Puckett said the conference should be of interest to everyone. “A group of us from the Drug Court Program as well as some other agencies had gone to this same conference in Cookeville and Dr. Lloyd spoke. He just blew our minds about addiction and changed the whole way that we saw addiction. We came back from that conference and met with our community advisory board and said we need to get this (conference) to DeKalb County,” said Puckett.
“As everyone knows we have a drug problem here and we’re not really doing much for it so we decided we want to bring this here. It’s a conference for our medical community but we also want to encourage anyone to attend. There are CME’s being offered for the doctors but it’s also open to the public. It’s designed not to say that we have a drug problem but more to get the community together to see what we can do to combat the problem. We’ll have screenings. A lady will be there to teach about screenings. SBIRT is a screening method for drug abuse and prevention and it is now a billable service so doctors and nurse practitioners can bill that in their offices. Angela McKinney is the Director of Prevention Services for the state and she will be there and actually give them the billing codes they need to make that service available. Dr. Lloyd will speak about the power of the pen and the proper prescribing of narcotics and the latest in treatment methods for Opioid addiction. This is also a fundraiser for the community advisory board. We hope to use at least half of the funds for the DeKalb Foster Children’s Fund. We already have a lot of people signed up and we’ll have different booths there. The cost is $50 for CME’s. For medical professionals who need CME’s. It’s $20 for general admission,” said Puckett.
The agenda is as follows:
8:00 – 8:30 Registration / Welcome
8:30 – 9:45 Angela McKinney Jones – SBIRT
9:45 – 10:00 Break
10:00 – 10:15 Judge Bratten Cook II
10:15 – 11:30 Dr. Stephen Loyd, MD, FACP –
The Power of the Pen
11:30 – 11:45 Break
11:45 – 12:45 Dr. Stephen Loyd, MD, FACP –
Medication Assisted Treatment
for Opioid Dependence
12:45 – 1:00 Closing remarks / Certificates /
Evaluation
This event will be sponsored by The Community Advisory Board of DeKalb County, The DeKalb County Drug Court, The Anti-drug Coalition of DeKalb County, DeKalb Community Hospital, Haven of Hope Counseling, Bradford Health Services, Lifeline of Tennessee, Ten Broeck of Tennessee, Health Connect America, Camelot Care, and The Tennessee Commission of Children and Youth. We have joined together to try help reduce the rates of addiction that are destroying our communities and to also treat those in need of help.
The cost is $50.00 for CME or $20.00 for general admission. A meal will be provided.
All proceeds for this training will go to the Community Advisory Board of DeKalb County.
If you or someone you know does not have available funding for training, there will be a limited amount of scholarships available.
For more information visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-epidemic-is-here-tickets-15042487485 or email jessica.tucker@tn.gov or rvalerio@bradfordhealth.net
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