The Federation of State Medical Boards Foundation undertakes educational and scientific research projects designed to expand public and medical professional knowledge and awareness of challenges impacting health care and health care regulation. The FSMB Foundation makes the results of its research available to the public and provides educational forums for further dialogue leading to the promotion of high standards for the safety and welfare of the public.

Recent educational endeavors involving the FSMB Foundation, which is a 501c3 exempt non-profit organization, include:

Responsible Opioid Prescribing: A Physician's Guide - In 2007, the FSMB Foundation began distributing aW handbook, Responsible Opioid Prescribing: A Physician's Guide, through individual state medical boards to the approximately 750,000 licensed physicians in the United States. Based on the FSMB's influential Model Policy for Prescribing Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain, the book translates the FSMB's consensus guidelines into office-based pain management. It includes pragmatic implementation strategies to reduce the risk of addiction, abuse and diversion, and reviews patient education and monitoring in an office-based practice. The book is currently being distributed on a state-by-state basis as funds are raised.

Online Prescriber Education Network - In April 2006, the FSMB Foundation was awarded a $362,000 grant as part of a national program designed to educate health care professionals about pharmaceutical industry marketing practices and provide tools for accessing unbiased sources of information about drugs. The FSMB Foundation is developing the Online Prescriber Education Network (OPEN), a Web-based portal that will provide educational programs to practicing physicians about pharmaceutical industry marketing techniques and their effect on prescribing practices. The portal will include unbiased and authoritative sources of information about medications, pragmatic strategies and tools for evidence-based prescribing, and adverse event assessment and reporting.

Promoting Balance and Consistency in the Regulatory Oversight of Pain Care - In 2004-05, the FSMB conducted a nationwide series of workshops to help medical and pharmaceutical regulators encourage appropriate pain care in their jurisdictions, gain insights into new developments in pain treatment and discuss regulatory responses to abuse and diversion of controlled substances. The workshops, "Promoting Balance and Consistency in the Regulatory Oversight of Pain Care," drew 350 participants representing 85 state medical and pharmacy boards and other organizations interested in pain care.

FSMB Foundation Directors

	Nancy Achin Audesse President Massachusetts		Cheryl A. Vaught, JD Vice President Oklahoma Osteopathic
	Susan M. Rose, DO Treasurer Michigan		Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA Director Alabama
	Humayun J. Chaudhry, D.O., M.S., FACP, FACOI Secretary

The FSMB Foundation is a 501c(3) exempt non-profit organization. For more information, contact Lisa Robin, Senior Vice President, FSMB Member Services, at lrobin@fsmb.org or (817)-868-4053.