Today we are going to talk about what’s trending in respect to CME activity formats and outcomes. Over the past six months, Global analyzed over 200 cme activities to look at changes and trends in formats, approach, and outcomes methodologies. In our analysis of CME activities, we’re seeing trends in three key areas.
Performance Improvement (PI) programs
After a rush to support PI in 2011 and 2012, the response from both CME providers and funders is that the CME enterprise has achieved limited success with PI programs, and there are a few reasons why. First, there is confusion among physicians who think that PI activities are a long, drawn out process that takes too much time to complete, and spare time is hard to come by for many healthcare professionals. The lack of time to complete an activity explains another issue with PI activities, which is a lack of follow through. Physicians may enter at Stage A of the PI initiative, but fail to move forward to Stage B or C and therefore do not complete the activity.
Outcomes for CME activities
There was a vast improvement in post activity follow up in outcomes programs, and we measured that by looking at a few key points. First, post activity e-mail follow up from providers has improved. Many accredited providers are now incorporating their faculty with the follow up e-mail that asks for feedback from CME activities, by having the e-mail sent out to the learners from the faculty. In addition, there are now more improved online surveying tools being implemented in order to collect feedback from learners after they complete a CME activity. Lastly, some of the new formats that are being incorporated include things like text that are easy, efficient, and quick. When text-based outcomes surveys are managed and packaged well by the provider, we can achieve higher response rates from follow-up surveys. The result is that we are seeing more information on when, where, and how participants are incorporating CME into practice.
Patients and their influence on CME activities
There was an increased use of patient education and input in CME activities, and many organizations are now embedding patient education materials as part of the CME activity. Additionally, some providers are actually bringing patients and physicians together for CME activities. This has led to many providers now incorporating patient feedback and surveys into the overall CME process.
The overall trend we are seeing is that there is an increased sophistication in CME planning, and an increased depth in analyzing outcomes data from CME activities. As always, if you have questions about CME trends, related formats, outcomes, or any other CME questions, you can contact us here