CME Impact on Physicians and Patients

A recent Global survey of funding organizations showed growing interest in the impact that CME has on physicians and their patients. Yes, accredited providers and funders still track the number of physician CME participants as a baseline. But our survey showed higher interest in the following: - Potential patient impact from CME - Practice changes physicians plan to make as a result of CME, and - Results of practice changes following the CME activity After testing several methods, one straightforward way to measure patient impact is to ask all CME participants, “How many of your patients in the next week will be affected by today’s education?” A simple calculation formulates an overall “patient impact indicator” score. For one recent series, oncologists participating in these CME activities stated that nearly 40,000 patients would be impacted by the education they received. This is not to say that every physician CME attendee will use all the information from CME to improve patient care. But it does show that physicians say they rely on CME for some amount of patient care.