Bethesda, MD (PRWEB) May 26, 2017
CME Outfitters has released preliminary outcomes findings from a live symposium held on January 15, 2017 at the 2017 Orlando Dermatology Aesthetic & Clinical (ODAC) Conference entitled, Coordinating Care to Improve Outcomes in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis: Bridging Rheumatology and Dermatology. Preliminary results for the live activity, featuring expert faculty members Allan Gibofsky, MD, JD, MACR, FACP, FCLM, and Leon H. Kircik, MD, showed improvements in knowledge, confidence, and behavior among clinicians treating psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and demonstrate once again the positive impact of integrating the patient voice into educational content.
This activity, supported by an educational grant from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and now available online, features real responses from patients living with PsA and focuses on the challenges they have faced with regard to initial diagnosis, treatment strategies, and coordinated care with their clinicians. To achieve a distinct patient voice for educational interventions, CMEO partnered with WEGO Health to engage an advisory panel of 15 patient advocates and influencers on social media –each with large peer networks and representing over 360,000 patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis. 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.
“A primary goal of CMEO is to ensure the patient becomes the focus of education,” said Jan Perez, CHCP, managing partner of CMEO. “If clinicians are unable to understand where the patients are coming from, it is hard to provide adequate care.” Patient stories reflect struggles, challenges, and communication gaps between patients and their HCPs that may become a barrier to optimal outcomes. By reaching out to patients in the communities where they interact, and giving them a seat at the educational design table, CMEO was able to gain the insights needed to generate some of the most patient-centered educational content available. “We harnessed the power of the patient leaders’ observations and analysis of their followers to create a patient collaboration with key opinion leaders [KOLs] to provide actionable education,” Perez said. “This alignment of patient KOLs and physician KOLs to marry evidence with best practices can truly drive and impact care. It has been exciting to hear such positive feedback from participants who have been able to implement things learned in our activity into their clinical practice.”
Preliminary outcomes findings showed improvements in knowledge, behavior, and confidence amongst participating clinicians. Knowledge improvements showed that 45% (post-test) vs. 0% (pre-test) of participants identified prevalence of PsA in patients with psoriasis, 63% more participants correctly identified CASPAR classification criteria for PsA, 74% more participants identified IL-17a inhibitors that are FDA-approved or pipeline agents for PsA, and 64% more participants recognized the characteristics of a high priority patient to refer to rheumatology. Major improvements were seen in behavior outcomes (pre-survey actual versus post-survey intended): 276% more participants use guideline-directed screening approaches in PsA patients, while 112% more participants work in a multidisciplinary team to detect and treat PsA. A large boost in confidence was also seen, as 76% (post-test) vs. 0% (pre-test) of participants were confident in their knowledge of treatment recommendations and emerging therapies for PsA. In activity evaluations, 84% said the activity would change their practice and a full 100% said the content increased their knowledge.
Attendees of the live symposium provided rave reviews of the content: “I’m grateful for your dedication to research. It’s easy to sit back and learn. Thank you for giving so much for our progress in psoriasis!”, “I really enjoyed the patient audio clips. It gave me a sense of patient feedback.”, “Excellent lecture – interesting and good topic, which made the activity very engaging!”, and “The discussion on multispecialty communication and team approach to treatment really hit home.”
The enduring video replay of this symposium is now available for CE credit, free of charge. For more information or to participate in this activity, click here. For a full list of upcoming or available activities, 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).
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