Medical Marijuana Certification, a CME Educational Module, and the Correlation between the two on “high volume” Certifiers in Arizona.

Abstract

In 2010, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act was passed which required the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) to establish a medical marijuana program. Since the institution of the program, AZDHS has monitored the “top 24” frequent certifiers for medicinal marijuana who in 2012 accounted for 75% of the total number of marijuana certifications in the state. ADHS contracted with the University Of Arizona College Of Public Health to create a CME module to educate physicians about the medical marijuana act and their responsibilities. Objective: To determine the composition of physicians completing the CME module, to assess the number of certifications written by these physicians, and to understand the trend that has occurred. Results: Among those individuals completing the training module, 25 physicians were identified by ADHS as having certified patients both before and after the module completion. Those 25 physicians account for 8782 certifications prior to the module and 28131 certifications after the institution of the module, a significant increase (p <0.0001). The results are surprising as we expected this number to decrease on the assumption that physicians are over certifying and not cross referencing the Board of Controlled Substances and taking the CME module would educate them on these topics. Hence this study demonstrates that further research is necessary in analyzing physician behavior with regards to medical marijuana certifications, with education of physicians playing a critical role.