
FOCUS: Functional pain and Opioids – Clinically Useful Strategies
Released On
November 1, 2022
Expires On
October 31, 2025
Media Type
Internet
Completion Time
60 minutes
Specialty
Emergency Medicine, Pain Management, Pharmacy, Primary Care
Topic(s)
Pain
Scroll to the Bottom of this Information to Begin this Course
This activity is jointly provided by University of Kentucky HealthCare CECentral and The France Foundation.

This activity is supported in part by an independent educational grant from Opioid Analgesic REMS Program Companies. Please see https://opioidanalgesicrems.com/Resources/Docs/List_of_RPC_Companies.pdf for a listing of REMS Program Companies. This activity is intended to comply fully with the Opioid Analgesic REMS education requirements issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Credit Available
- Physicians — maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™
- Nurses — 1.0 Contact Hour
- Pharmacists — 1.0 Contact Hour
All other healthcare professionals completing this course will be issued a statement of participation.
Target Audience
The target audience includes family medicine physicians, emergency physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers involved in the management of patients experiencing functional pain
Program Overview
Learn how to assess and treat functional pain syndromes caused by nociplastic pain. This course is based on the FDA’s Opioid Analgesic REMS Education Blueprint.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be knowledgeable about:
- Understanding the fundamental concepts of pain management, including definitions and mechanisms of pain by comparing nociplastic pain to nociceptive and neuroplastic origins
- Assessing patients with pain and identifying potential risk factors for opioid use disorder with an emphasis on FPS
- Utilizing the range of therapeutic options for managing pain, including nonpharmacologic approaches and pharmacologic (nonopioid and opioid analgesics) therapies and specific recommendations for nociplastic pain
- Integrating opioid analgesics into a pain treatment plan individualized to meet the needs of the patient and when opioids are not indicated
- Managing patients on opioid analgesics safely and effectively in the acute and chronic pain settings, including initiating therapy, titrating, and discontinuing use of opioid analgesics, with a focus on discontinuation of opioids in patients with FPS
- Counseling patients and caregivers about the use of naloxone for opioid overdose
- Referring patients to a pain specialist, as appropriate
- Utilizing the fundamental elements of addiction medicine (ie, diagnosis, prevention, evaluation, treatment, and recovery of patients with opioid use disorder)
- Identifying and managing the care of patients with opioid use disorder
- The current information about safe opioid practices and current federal and state regulations, national guidelines, and professional organization and medical specialty guidelines on treating pain and prescribing opioids
- The use of naloxone and the importance of its availability for use by patients and caregivers in the community and home.
Faculty

Cheryl Vanderford, MPAS, PA
Assistant Professor
University of Kentucky Department of Physician Studies
UK College of Health Services
Lexington, Kentucky

Michael Mueller, MD
Assistant Professor
General Internal Medicine
Integrative Medicine and Health
International Medicine Clinic in Minnesota
Rochester, Minnesota

Ravindra Ganesh, MBBS, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
College of Medicine
General Medicine
Rochester, Minnesota
Accreditation Statement
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by UK HealthCare CECentral and The France Foundation. University of Kentucky HealthCare CECentral is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
Physician Credit Designation
This live activity is designated for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
This training has been approved by the KBML as meeting the statutory requirements of HB1. 1122-H1.0-UK3d
- IPE Competencies
- Roles/ Responsibilities
- Interprofessional Communication
Nursing Continuing Education Credit Designation
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 1.00 nursing contact hours.
Pharmacists Credit Designation
This knowledge-based activity will award 1.00 contact hour (0.100 CEUs) of continuing pharmacy education credit in states that recognize ACPE providers. UAN# JA0000312-9999-23-008-H08-P.
Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest
All planners, faculty, and others in control of educational content are required to disclose all their financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. An ineligible company is defined as one whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.
No speakers, authors, planners, or content reviewers have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.
The material presented in this course represents information obtained from the scientific literature as well as the clinical experiences of the speakers. In some cases, the presentations include a discussion of investigational agents and/or off-label indications for various agents used in clinical practice. Speakers will inform the audience when they are discussing investigational and/or off-label uses.
Content review confirmed that the content was developed in a fair, balanced manner free from commercial bias. Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone commercial bias in any presentation, but it is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.
Instructions for Participation and Credit
There are no fees for participating and receiving CME credit for this enduring activity. To receive CME credit participants must:
- Read the CME/CE information and faculty disclosures.
- Participate in the online activity.
- Submit the evaluation form.
Certificates will be emailed to the participant.
Course Viewing Requirements
Supported Browsers:
Internet Explorer 8.0+ for Windows 2003, Vista, XP, Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and above
Google Chrome 28.0+ for Windows, Mac OS, or Linux
Mozilla Firefox 23.0+ for Windows, Mac OS, or Linux
Safari 6.0+ for Mac OSX 10.7 and above
Supported Phones & Tablets:
Android 4.0.3 and above
iPhone/iPad with iOS 6.1 or above
Disclosure of Unlabeled Use
The University of Kentucky HealthCare CECentral and The France Foundation requires CME faculty (speakers) to disclose when products or procedures being discussed are off label, unlabeled, experimental, and/or investigational, and any limitations on the information that is presented, such as data that are preliminary, or that represent ongoing research, interim analyses, and/or unsupported opinion. Faculty in this activity may discuss information about pharmaceutical agents that is outside of US Food and Drug Administration approved labeling. This information is intended solely for continuing medical education and is not intended to promote off-label use of these medications. University of Kentucky HealthCare CECentral and TFF does not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications. If you have questions, contact the Medical Affairs Department of the manufacturer for the most recent prescribing information.
Disclaimer
The University of Kentucky HealthCare CECentral and The France Foundation presents this information for educational purposes only. The content is provided solely by faculty who have been selected because of recognized expertise in their field. Participants have the professional responsibility to ensure that products are prescribed and used appropriately on the basis of their own clinical judgment and accepted standards of care. The University of Kentucky HealthCare CECentral, TFF and the commercial supporter(s) assume no liability for the information herein.
Contact Information
If you have questions about this CME activity, please contact The France Foundation at 860-434-1650 or info@francefoundation.com.