Statement of Need

Nearly 28 million people in the US met criteria for alcohol use disorder (AUD) last year, yet unhealthy alcohol use is routinely missed due to lack of routine screening. Even when screening does happen, the trail often goes cold from there: among patients with severe AUD, only a small fraction report being told about treatment options. Clinicians cite discomfort raising the topic, limited familiarity with screening guidelines, and no reliable process for turning a positive screen into next steps. Patients, for their part, often stay quiet, shaped by stigma, a belief the problem will resolve on its own, or simply not knowing treatment exists.

Rural settings face this gap from a steeper starting point. Provider shortages, long distances to specialty care, lack of behavioral health integration, and inconsistent broadband for telehealth all stand between a patient and the screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment pathway that guidelines call for.

Closing that gap doesn't require every site to build its own improvement infrastructure from scratch. This program provides clinicians with a framework and tools, including a self-reported assessment to benchmark current screening and referral practices against evidence-based targets, paired with interventions that clinicians can adopt as-is or adapt to their setting.

Target Audience

This activity is intended for primary care clinicians, emergency medicine clinicians, psychiatrists, social workers, addiction specialists, pharmacists, advanced practice providers, nurses, and other multidisciplinary team members.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Implement validated screening tools for detection of alcohol use disorder across healthcare settings to mitigate delays in diagnosis and treatment
• Adopt culturally competent Brief Intervention strategies and tools to build motivation and direct patients to specialized addiction treatment
• Develop continued clinical staff training programs to ensure confidence and competency with initiating Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment in routine clinical practice
• Establish interprofessional, integrated care models to increase and improve access to patient-centric alcohol-related care in rural areas

Method of Participation

To receive credit, learners are required to complete a baseline assessment; design, develop, and implement an action plan using our automated platform; view the online interventions; and return after 30 days to report progress in making system-level changes. A thorough response to the reflection questionnaire on your involvement in the quality improvement activity is also required for meaningful participation. A certificate will be available upon completion of the reflection questionnaire. There is no fee to participate in the activity or for the generation of the certificate.

ABIM credit will be submitted to ABIM within 30 days of completion.

Accreditation and Credit Designation Statement

The Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning designates this enduring material for a maximum of 2.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurses may participate in this educational activity and earn a certificate of completion as AAPA, AANP, and ANCC accept AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ through their reciprocity agreements.

This activity has been approved for 2.5 contact hours.

ACPE Universal Activity Number: 0396-0000-26-030-H99-P

Activity Type: Knowledge

Release Date: November 20, 2026

Expiration Date: November 20, 2027

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 2.5 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC points.

By providing your ABIM Diplomate number, you consent to have ACHL and/or our educational partners submit your participation in this activity to the ABIM through the ACCME PARS system. ABIM credit will be submitted to PARS on the first day of each month.

Disclosures

The Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning (ACHL) requires that the faculty participating in an accredited continuing education activity disclose all affiliations or other financial relationships within 24 months (1) with the manufacturers of any commercial product(s) and/or provider(s) of commercial services discussed in an educational presentation and (2) with all ineligible companies. All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated prior to this activity.

The following financial relationships have been provided:

Carolyn A. Chan, MD, MHS-MedED
Nothing to disclose

Andrea Weber, MD, MME, FASAM, FACP
Nothing to disclose

Staff and Reviewer Disclosures

ACHL staff members and others involved with the planning, development, and review of the content for this activity have no relevant affiliations or financial relationships to disclose.

Disclaimer

The content for this activity was developed independently of any ineligible company. All materials are included with permission. The opinions expressed are those of the faculty and are not to be construed as those of the publisher or grantor(s).

This educational activity was planned and produced in accordance with the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Recommendations involving clinical medicine in a continuing medical education (CME/CE) activity must be based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indications and contraindications in the care of patients. All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in CME/CE in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.

This CME/CE activity might describe the off-label, investigational, or experimental use of medications and/or devices that may exceed their FDA-approved labeling. Physicians should consult the current manufacturers’ prescribing information for these products. ACHL and The University of Chicago requires the speaker to disclose that a product is not labeled for the use under discussion.

Discussion of scientific information on unapproved uses (SIUU), off-label, investigational, or experimental drug/device use: None

Acknowledgement

Provided by the Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning (ACHL).

Supported by an educational grant from Lilly.