The Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act is part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, of 2023, which takes effect June 2023.
The MATE Act requires training for Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)-registered clinicians—a one-time, eight-hour training requirement on treating and managing patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) or other substance use disorders.
What does this mean for hospitalists? What do you need to do? What’s the deadline? We’ll answer all of these questions and more here.
Who’s required to complete this new training? All DEA-registered practitioners.
What’s the deadline for completing the training? The deadline for satisfying the new training requirement is the date of your next scheduled DEA registration submission (initial or renewal).
How do you report satisfying the training requirement? Beginning June 27, 2023, you’ll be required to check a box on your online DEA registration form (whether it’s your initial registration or your renewal)—affirming that you’ve completed the training.
How often do I have to renew my DEA license? Every three years—but the MATE Act requirement only needs to be completed once.
Does SHM offer courses that meet this new requirement? Yes. SHM offers eligible courses that are available on the SHM Learning Portal. These courses are free for SHM members. Additional courses will be added in the coming months.
I have already completed buprenorphine X-Waiver training. Does this count toward meeting the requirement? Yes. Past DATA-Waived training meets this requirement. In other words, if you previously held an X-Waiver, you have already met this new requirement and can check the box on your registration form.
Which clinicians are deemed to have already satisfied the training requirement?
- Physicians who are board-certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry.
- Practitioners who graduated from their professional school within five years of June 27, 2023, or five years of their license renewal following June 27, 2023, and completed a curriculum that included at least eight hours of coursework regarding substance use disorder during that time.
- Practitioners who previously took training to meet the requirements of the DATA-2000 waiver (X-Waiver) to prescribe buprenorphine can count this training towards the eight-hour training requirements.
There are a few key points to keep in mind:
- The MATE Act is a one-time requirement—once you’ve completed the eight-hour session, you’re done. This means if you’ve already completed eight hours of training in the required topic you don’t need to complete another eight hours.
- Training is cumulative. It doesn’t have to occur in one session and past trainings count. The eight required hours of training can be provided through different activity formats (e.g., live, online, enduring, etc.) and do not have to be completed in one session and can be satisfied through a combination of activities.
- Training can occur in a variety of formats, including classroom settings, seminars at professional society meetings, or virtual offerings.
Additional Reading from The Journal of Hospital Medicine
Policy in clinical practice: Elimination of the buprenorphine “X-waiver”
