Bethesda, MD (PRWEB) April 29, 2017
CME Outfitters (CMEO) is proud to present its findings from an activity entitled, Risky Business: Understanding and Attenuating Risk Associated with Disease-Modifying Therapy in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. This unique educational activity integrated the patient voice directly into content and involved an interactive and engaging neuroscienceCME Live and On Demand video webcast with a panel of expert faculty, featuring evidence-based presentations centered on a complex patient case, MS decision aids, and learner interactivity through real-time polling and a live Q&A session. Results showed an overall effect size (ES) of 1.11 (large ES = .8), providing qualitative evidence of the activity’s success.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) strikes people in the prime of their lives, affecting upwards of 400,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million worldwide. However, a diagnosis of MS is no longer a sentence of doom; as stated in CNS Drugs, “the MS landscape has been comprehensively and irreversibly transformed by progress” in understanding the pathophysiology of the disease and the development of targeted therapy. As new therapeutic options become available, establishing effective patient-centric treatment plans, based upon newly identified targets and incorporating mechanism of action, will be increasingly essential to achieving optimum quality of life for all of these individuals.
Education centered around American Academy of Neurology MS Quality Measurement Set practice guidelines and National Quality Strategy Priorities for improved engagement of patients in care will improve patient care, patient health outcomes, and cost of care.
CMEO believes that in all instructional design the patient must be at the center of the educational equation. Their stories reflect struggles, challenges, and communications gaps between the patient and the health care providers that may become a barrier to optimal outcomes. Telling stories creates teachable moments and changes culture, and changing culture is essential to changing behaviors. As stated by Jan Perez, CHCP, managing partner of CMEO, “our goal is to ensure that the patient becomes the focus of educational content. Clinicians must be able to understand where the patients are coming from to be able to provide adequate care.”
Achieving a clear patient voice for this intervention began with the engagement of an advisory panel of MS Patient Influencers (N = 15)—MS patient/advocates—each with peer networks of approximately 5,000 patients with MS. Interviews with these patient leaders consisted of questions developed in alignment with the activity learning objectives to gain patient insights and perspective into their care. Both audio and transcribed responses from the patient leader interviews were provided to faculty for review and discussion during the activities, and audio clips from patient leaders were integrated into the educational content. These interviews with these patients provided insights from the patient perspective and aligned patient needs with physician gaps to shape content to trigger “light-bulb” moments among participating clinicians that can lead to improved team decision-making and patient-centered care.
To measure the impact of the education, CMEO conducted outcomes surveys assessing knowledge, competence, behavior, and confidence pre-activity, immediately following the activity (post-activity), and 3 months following the activity. The 3-month follow-up also included surveying a group of non-participant matched controls. Statistical comparisons were made between pre- and post-activity using McNemar’s tests, and between participants and controls at the 3-month follow-up using chi-square tests.
Results of the outcomes analyses showed that CMEO’s integration of the patient voice into the educational design had a clear, positive impact on activity participants, achieving an effect size (ES) of 1.11 for knowledge, compared to nonparticipant controls (large ES = .8). This ES reflected a relative advantage of participants to controls of up to 165% (p < 001). In addition, compared to pre-survey, 204% more participants improved practice behaviors via incorporating mechanism of action of pharmacotherapy in MS treatment decisions (p < .001).
CME Outfitters received positive feedback from participating clinicians regarding the activity, with one participant stating, “I have shared the education webcast with our residency director and now our residents are required to be proficient in discussing treatment options with patients. Feedback from residents and patients has been positive.” Other webcast participants found the education useful in their own practice; “I have added patient goal to our checklist so that we make sure we document the goal of the patient at each visit. Very easy tip. Thank you,” said an enthused clinician.
“We were able to successfully tap into the power of the patient leaders’ observations and analysis of their followers to create a patient collaboration with key opinion leaders [KOLs] to provide unique actionable education,” Perez said. “This alignment of patient KOLs and physician KOLs to marry evidence with best practices can truly drive and impact care – and that is a primary goal of ours at CME Outfitters. We are excited to hear feedback from clinicians who have been able to immediately implement useful things they took away from a CMEO activity into their own practices.”
To learn more about the unique CE activities offered by CME Outfitters, please visit http://www.CMEOutfitters.com.
About CME Outfitters, LLC
CME Outfitters develops and distributes live, recorded and web-based, outcomes- and evidence-based educational activities to thousands of clinicians each year and offers expert accreditation and outcome services for non-accredited organizations. CME Outfitters focuses on delivering education to specialty audiences, with strong expertise in neuroscience, inflammatory, infectious, and autoimmune diseases, and cardiovascular disease. For a complete list of certified activities and more information, visit http://www.cmeoutfitters.com or call 877.CME.PROS (877.263.7767).
“CME Outfitters …
Improving Clinical Behavior … One Change at a Time”