Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (Opioid Analgesic REMS, or the REMS) - OA 120126 - 2026 CE RFA Overview

Sep 21, 2026

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Overview of the RPC’s Continuing Education Request for Application (CE RFA) under the Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS), code OA 120126, describing goals to educate prescribers and other healthcare providers involved in treating and monitoring patients receiving opioid analgesics. The education must align solely with the FDA Opioid Analgesic REMS Education Blueprint for Health Care Providers (October 2023), covering pain management practices, counseling, opioid risks, non-pharmacologic options, and mitigation of addiction, overdose, and death. It outlines grant cycle governance, including the Independent Grant Review Committee, and eligibility requirements for REMS-compliant accredited CE activities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages41

Reading Time1 h 43 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

Sponsoring organizations and CE RFA identifiers

Educational goal and required FDA blueprint alignment

Independent Grant Review Committee (IGRC) process

REMS-compliant CE eligibility elements

Required assessment, outcomes data, and learner completion strategies

Overview | Sponsoring Organizations | Opioid Analgesic (OA) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program Companies (RPC) | | --- | --- | | CE RFA Title | Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (Opioid Analgesic REMS, or the REMS) | | CE RFA Code | OA 120126 | | CE RFA Goal | The goal of the RPC’s Continuing Education Request for Application (CE RFA) is to support high-quality REMS-compliant accredited continuing medical education (CME) or continuing education (CE), as defined by the applicable accrediting organization(s), designed to educate prescribers and other healthcare providers (HCPs), including pharmacists and nurses, involved in the treatment and monitoring of patients with pain who receive opioid analgesics, on pain management practices, including counseling patients and appropriate opioid analgesic prescribing. For a full list of relevant HCP professions, please reference the FDARequested Learner Level Data Information section of this Overview. Through education, the healthcare team will have an improved understanding of how to manage pain, along with the role of opioid analgesics and the use of non-pharmacologic and non-opioid analgesics in pain management. The education will also provide information about the risks of opioids and use of other therapies, which is intended to assist HCPs in reducing adverse outcomes of addiction/substance use disorder, unintentional overdose, and death resulting from inappropriate prescribing and nonmedical use of opioid analgesics.
The mechanism for achieving this goal is by educating HCPs, based on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements for the Opioid Analgesic REMS. Such education is to be based solely on the FDA’s Opioid Analgesic REMS Education Blueprint for Health Care Providers Involved in the Treatment and Monitoring of Patients with Pain dated October 2023 (FDA Blueprint). The education should seek to optimize knowledge acquisition and translate that knowledge into practice. Please note the FDA Blueprint includes information on the removal of stigmatizing language as well as safe disposal options of used and unused opioid analgesics, to reduce risk of accidental exposure/ingestion by household contacts and to reduce risk of nonmedical use.
Grant applications submitted in response to the 2026 CE RFA should detail educational initiatives as outlined in Section 4 of this CE RFA.
As part of the 2026 CE Grant Cycle, the Joint Accreditors (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education [ACCME], Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education [ACPE], and American Nurses Credentialing Center [ANCC]) will convene an Independent Grant Review Committee (IGRC) . The purpose of the IGRC is to provide feedback to the RPCon the quality of grant applications submitted in response to the 2026 CE RFA and to recommend grant applications for funding by the RPC. The IGRC will be comprised of individuals who:
􀂃 Have relevant subject matter expertise
􀂃 Are not affiliated with the grant applicants under consideration
􀂃 Have no affiliation to the RPC or any of the REMS Program Agreement (RPA) Participants
􀂃 Are not currently on the board or staff of any accreditors | | CE RFA | For a proposed CE activity to be eligible for CE credit awarded by the accrediting body, | | --- | --- | | Elements | the educational design of proposed CE activities must incorporate all of the | | Essential to Be | requirements for REMS-compliant accredited CE training: | | REMS Compliant | 􀂃 All CE activities must cover all elements of the FDA Blueprint. | | Compliant Accredited CE | 􀂃 Each CE activity must include an assessment that covers all sections of the FDA Blueprint.
􀂾 Grant applications should include strategies for increasing the likelihoodof individuals completing the entire assessment.
􀂾 CE providers should collect educational outcomes data as requested by the FDA and developed independently of the RPC. Note that these data are

FAQs

What is the goal of the RPC’s CE RFA OA 120126?

To support high-quality REMS-compliant accredited CME/CE that educates prescribers and other healthcare providers involved in pain treatment and monitoring. The education focuses on pain management practices, counseling, appropriate prescribing, and risk mitigation for addiction, overdose, and death.

What blueprint must CE education be based on?

The education must be based solely on the FDA’s Opioid Analgesic REMS Education Blueprint for Health Care Providers involved in the Treatment and Monitoring of Patients with Pain dated October 2023.

What must a proposed CE activity include to be eligible for CE credit?

The educational design must incorporate all elements of the FDA Blueprint, and each CE activity must include an assessment covering all Blueprint sections. Grant applications should also include strategies to increase complete assessment participation and require collection of educational outcomes data as requested by FDA.

Sep 21, 2026

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