Questions,
answered

Every board writes its own rules. Total hours, mandated topics, and renewal cycles all differ from state to state — and seven states (KY, LA, MA, OR, TN, UT, WV) will only accept a board-approved or state-specific course for at least one mandate, so even a topic you’ve already covered elsewhere may not count there. Each license has to satisfy its own board independently. The free planner shows exactly what each of your states asks of you; Pro then tracks it.

Those are two different obligations. The MATE Act training is a one-time, federal condition of holding a DEA registration (8 hours on treating opioid and other substance-use disorders, in effect for registrations and renewals since June 27, 2023 — and prior DATA-waiver training counts toward it). State opioid/controlled-substance CME is separate and usually recurring. Many boards do let one accredited course count toward both at once — but that’s each state’s call, not an automatic pass, and the state-specific-course states named above are the usual exceptions.

One thing that does usually carry over, timed right: a MATE-qualifying course has to come from an ACCME (or equivalent) accredited provider to count federally — and those same hours will typically also count toward a state’s general CME hour total, even in states where they don’t satisfy the specific opioid/CS-topic mandate on their own. General CME pools are almost always topic-agnostic: hours are hours. Confirm the credit type your board accepts before relying on this.

The X-waiver (DATA waiver) was eliminated by Section 1262 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. Any prescriber whose standard DEA registration includes Schedule III authority may now prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, subject to state law — no separate federal waiver, no patient cap. What replaced it is the MATE training above. Note that a few states layer their own addiction-medicine CME on MOUD prescribers — the free planner has a buprenorphine/MOUD toggle that surfaces those.

Usually not. In our 51-jurisdiction dataset, only seven states make their core opioid/controlled-substance requirement one-time (CA, GA, LA, MD, OR, RI, WA); everywhere else it repeats every renewal cycle, and cycles run anywhere from 1 to 5 years. Hold three licenses and you may owe the same topic on three different clocks — which is exactly what the free planner’s timing plan is built to line up, so one well-timed course restarts as many clocks as possible.

As a rule, you must be authorized to practice where the patient is located at the time of the visit — not where you sit. Some states offer lighter telehealth-specific registrations (e.g. Florida, Colorado) with their own rules and generally without full-license CME; others expect a full license, which brings that state’s full CME load with it. If you prescribe controlled substances via telehealth, also check the destination state’s PDMP and prescribing rules.

Helpful, but the responsibility never transfers: board audits are addressed to the licensee, and it’s your license on the line if a course turns out not to qualify. Keep your own certificates (a consistent file name like 2026-03-10_CS-Prescribing_3hr.pdf saves real pain later) and keep a one-page map of which course satisfied which state. Not tracking it by hand is the entire point of Interstate Medicine Pro.