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Beyond the Checklist: Putting the ASAM Criteria Into Practice

Smita Prasad, MD, MPH, MBA, DFASAM, CMRO
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Date & Time

Description

The ASAM Criteria continue to evolve toward a more individualized, person-centered approach to addiction treatment. For many providers and organizations, the challenge is not simply understanding what has changed—it is understanding how those changes affect clinical decision-making, level-of-care recommendations, staffing, documentation, utilization, and day-to-day practice.

This two-hour, high-level refresher course will provide a practical overview of the most important ASAM Criteria changes and their implications for providers and treatment programs.

Rather than reviewing every component of the Criteria in detail, the course will focus on the changes that are most likely to affect clinical practice and program operations. Particular emphasis will be placed on translating ASAM concepts into real-world clinical decisions, including how to apply person-centered principles, determine appropriate level of care, individualize treatment intensity, and avoid common implementation pitfalls.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Describe the major changes and emerging themes in the current ASAM Criteria and explain why they matter to clinical practice.

  • Explain the shift toward person-centered care within the ASAM framework and identify how this differs from a traditional, program-driven approach to treatment placement.

  • Apply ASAM principles to practical level-of-care decisions, including consideration of patient needs, strengths, preferences, risks, resources, and recovery environment.

  • Recognize important changes in level-of-care concepts and treatment intensity including implications for appropriate utilization and transitions between levels of care.

  • Identify key staffing and programmatic considerations associated with providing care at different levels of intensity, where applicable.

  • Improve clinical documentation and communication to better demonstrate the rationale for assessment, treatment planning, level-of-care recommendations, and transitions.

  • Identify common implementation challenges and strategies for incorporating the updated Criteria into existing clinical workflows.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this workshop is to translate the major changes in the ASAM Criteria into practical, person-centered approaches to assessment, level-of-care determination, treatment planning, and utilization.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Nurse
  • Physician
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Smita Prasad, MD, MPH, MBA, DFASAM, CMRO
Smita Prasad, MD, MPH, MBA, DFASAM, CMRO is board certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She is an Assistant Professor of Addiction Medicine with the Tulane Dept. of Psychiatry and serves as the Program Director for the Tulane Addiction Medicine Fellowship. She was recently named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). She has many roles and is the Medical Director of the Louisiana Addictive Disorder Regulatory Authority Board, the Immediate Past President of the Louisiana Society of Addiction Medicine, and the current Chair of the Physicians Health Special Interest Group for the ASAM. She provides outpatient addiction medicine services at the Tulane Addiction Recovery Clinic in New Orleans where she is also Medical Director. She is currently the Medical Director of the Hancock Co. Family Treatment Court in Bay St. Louis, MS, the only treatment court of its kind in the United States. She recently became Medical Director of the new, family-focused, recovery center, Canal Pointe, a facility run by the Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana. She is a consultant for the Opioid Response Network STR-TA, has begun working closely with the Tulane Transplant team to provide Addiction Medicine services at East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, Louisiana as well as leading the HOPE Council Clinical Subgroup for the Louisiana Office of Behavioral Health. She is an avid volunteer and has been recognized as a New Orleans CityBusiness 2024 and 2025 Health Care Hero. She lives with her family in Springfield, Louisiana.

Financially Sponsored By

  • Aetna Better Health of Louisiana
  • Humana Healthy Horizons in Louisiana
  • Louisiana Healthcare Connections