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Live Webinar

Managing Opioid Use Disorder in Acute Care: Key Decisions in the First 24 Hours

Melinda Turner, MD, FASAM, FAAEM
Rikki Pleasants, MD
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Information

Date & Time

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Explain the role of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in acute care settings

  • Identify key treatment decisions in the first 24 hours for hospitals and emergency departments

  • Distinguish between care pathways for initiating versus continuing MOUD

  • Describe best practices for warm handoffs to ongoing treatment

  • Implement strategies to reduce discharge-to-treatment gaps

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this workshop is to equip healthcare providers and discharge planners – especially in the emergency department – with tools to refer with warm handoff to outpatient SUD/OUD treatment.

Description

This workshop will help healthcare providers and discharge teams strengthen the transition from hospital care to outpatient opioid use disorder treatment. Participants will explore overdose risk after discharge, compare cold, warm, and hot handoff models, and learn the core elements of an effective warm handoff. The session will also highlight how medications for opioid use disorder can reduce mortality and support better long-term outcomes. Overall, the webinar is designed to provide practical strategies that reduce treatment delays, improve care continuity, and support safer discharges.

Target Audience

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

Presenters

Melinda Turner, MD, FASAM, FAAEM
Melinda Turner, MD, FASAM, FAAEM, is a dual board-certified Addiction Medicine and Emergency Medicine physician serving as Medical Director of Behavioral Health Group's flagship Nashville opioid treatment program, where she has championed initiatives to accelerate dose stabilization, improve patient retention, and reduce barriers to care. She is an NIH/NIDA-funded SUD Ventures Fellow and incoming Catalyst Fellow at MIT, and serves on the community advisory panel for Tennessee's Opioid Abatement Council. Dr. Turner is a member of ASAM's Membership Council and served as a field reviewer for ASAM's forthcoming national guidance on hospital-based substance use disorder care. She trained at Caltech, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Michigan.
Rikki Pleasants, MD
Dr. Rikki Pleasants is a board-certified psychiatrist and addiction medicine leader with more than a decade of experience treating individuals with substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders. She serves as Medical Director for Behavioral Health Group's (BHG) Knoxville Bernard and Knoxville Citico Treatment Centers, where she focuses on evidence-based, patient-centered care that supports long-term recovery.

Dr. Pleasants earned her medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine at Birmingham and completed both her Psychiatry Residency and Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) and has specialized expertise in addiction psychiatry, trauma-informed care and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

Known for her compassionate and individualized approach to treatment, Dr. Pleasants is passionate about reducing stigma surrounding addiction and mental illness while advancing practical, research-driven solutions for patients and communities navigating the opioid crisis.

Financially Sponsored By

  • Behavioral Health Group (BHG)