The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education reports that approximately 1,680 accredited education providers offered more than 170,000 educational activities in the past year alone, yet many providers lack the ability to track the effectiveness of the programs. Assessing the actual outcomes of continuing medical education (CME) is essential. That is why PlatformQ Health regularly tracks the outcomes of its CME courses, and publishes these to share with the medical community. Offering this transparency is one way to ensure that the knowledge being shared with patients and providers is actually affecting outcomes and to use this data to develop future programs.
Below are a sampling of outcomes throughout the latest conference season.
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2021, June 4-8, 2021
Majority of clinicians improved their competence in treating HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer after completing CME course
Following participation in the multi-session CME activity Getting to Know HER: An In-depth Discussion on HER2/HER3-Targeted Therapy Across Multiple Tumor Types, clinicians indicated the program’s success in closing baseline gaps in understanding the course of action for treating HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer (55% correct at pre-test vs. 73% at two months post education).
ASCO 2021, June 4-8, 2021
More than two-thirds of clinicians enhanced patient impact and clinical practices after attending rare cancer CME session
Two months after attending the CME/CE session Spotlight on Rare Cancers at the first annual NORD Rare Cancers Summit, follow-up surveys found 71% of clinician learners reported improvements in clinical practice and 67% reported improvements in patient impact.
ASCO 2021, June 4-8, 2021
More than three-quarters of clinicians improved patient communication after attending tethered learning program
83% of patients reported improvements in communication with their healthcare team two months after attending the tethered education session A Woman’s Role in Her Breast Cancer Care, featuring panelists from Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Susan G. Komen, as well as a patient representative.
2021 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting, April 17-22, 2021
Digital neurology education improves patient outcomes
More than 56% of learners who attended clinician, patient, and caregiver education activities about multiple sclerosis, Dravet syndrome, spinal muscular atrophy, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy reported the activity positively impacted patient experience/outcomes.
2021 Virtual Alliance Industry Summit, April 15, 2021
PlatformQ receives best-in-class award for uncovering education gaps
More than half of respondents to a recent CME session Managing Overactive Bladder in the Primary Care Setting said they had been relying on urinalysis symptomatology for diagnosis, despite the recommendation to conduct physical exams on patients with suspected overactive bladder symptoms.
American Academy of Dermatology VMX 2021, April 23-25, 2021
Virtual education enhanced patient outcomes and clinical practice by more than 90%
The American Academy of Dermatology published PlatformQ Health’s poster analyzing outcomes from an educational initiative about Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria treatment held in collaboration with Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, with 91% of healthcare providers reporting a positive impact on patient outcomes and 92% reporting a positive impact on clinical practice.
62nd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition, December 2-5, 2020
Tethered education improves patient treatment
The PlatformQ Health Outcomes Team found aligned education targeting both healthcare providers and patients can improve the ability to provide evidence-based treatments for patients.
American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, April 17-22, 2021
Continuing education brings improvements for treating Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)
Three out of four learners attending the CME activity Improving the Recognition of GBS and CIDP in the Hospital Setting, developed in collaboration with GBS/CIDP Foundation International, reported statistically significant improvements on testing acute disease, treatment choice, and referral pathway after attending the session.
Rare Disease Day at NIH 2021 Virtual Event, April 22, 2021
Aligned caregiver and healthcare provider online education expands knowledge of spinal muscular atrophy treatment
Produced in partnership with the National Organization for Rare Disorders and CureSMA, the CME session Improving Outcomes in Spinal Muscular Atrophy brought positive changes in clinician and caregiver knowledge about rapid advances in medical science.
World Muscle Society, September 23, 2021
Duchenne muscular dystrophy education yields positive outcomes
PlatformQ Health, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, and the National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD) collaborated on the development of a multidisciplinary CME program focused on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Of the 385 learners who participated in the course, 64% reported a positive impact on their education on their clinical practice and 57% reported a positive impact on patient satisfaction.
HFSA Annual Scientific Meeting 2021 Poster Article
Two-part heart disease CME improves outcomes for women suffering from the disease
Women experience a higher symptom burden than men, are more frequently misdiagnosed, and are underrepresented in clinical trials for health failure treatment. To address these gaps, PlatformQ Health and the American Society for Preventive Cardiology launched a virtual CME program exploring gender differences in disease presentation and emerging treatments. Of the 1,276 learners who participated in the sessions, 68% reported it had a positive impact on clinical practice while 65% reported that it had a positive impact on patient outcomes.
American Society of Retina Specialists 39th Annual Scientific Meeting
Serial CME program helps improve clinical practice and patient experiences
To support U.S. retinal specialists and ophthalmologists, PlatformQ Health developed a four-part CME series on the treatment of retinal disease and the provision of anti-VEGF therapy amid COVID-19. Responses from learner polling as well as surveys administered two months after the training showed that 65% found the training made a positive impact on their clinical practice and 56% said it positively impacted patient experiences.