# Check an opioid treatment provider before you decide

A practical method to check a provider against an official register, prepare questions for a first call, compare services fairly and spot misleading adverts.

- Level: Practitioner
- Length: 55 minutes
- Exam questions: 8, pass mark 80%, up to 3 attempts
- Certificate: valid for 12 months

## What you will learn

- Check a provider's name and address against the official register for its state or country.
- Prepare questions for a first call about appointments, papers, funding and privacy.
- Compare two or three services on stated facts and treat empty fields as unknown.
- Spot warning signs in adverts and keep a record of what each service told you.

## Lessons

1. [Check the official register](https://opioidtreatment.fyi/academy/check-an-opioid-treatment-provider/check-the-official-register.md) (14 minutes)
2. [Questions for the first call](https://opioidtreatment.fyi/academy/check-an-opioid-treatment-provider/questions-for-the-first-call.md) (14 minutes)
3. [Compare services fairly](https://opioidtreatment.fyi/academy/check-an-opioid-treatment-provider/compare-services-fairly.md) (14 minutes)
4. [Warning signs and your record](https://opioidtreatment.fyi/academy/check-an-opioid-treatment-provider/warning-signs-and-your-record.md) (12 minutes)

## Questions

### Does the course tell me which provider to pick?

No. It shows how to check and compare. A clinician decides about treatment with you.

### Does the course check a clinician's qualifications for me?

No. It shows how to find the official register and what to compare. The register is the source for a service's status. The certificate of completion is not a professional qualification or a licence.

### What if I cannot find an official register?

Check the official register in your state or country. If you cannot find one, ask the provider which body oversees it. Then look for that body's own website and note what you found.

Also on the [web page](https://opioidtreatment.fyi/academy/check-an-opioid-treatment-provider).

> Talk to a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified clinician before you start, stop or change treatment. In an emergency call your local emergency number: 911 in the US and Canada (or call or text 988), 999 in the UK and Ireland (or call 111 in the UK, 112 in Ireland), 000 in Australia, 111 in New Zealand. For overdose, call emergency services first.