Policy & Regulation News

Why CME is a critical resource for healthcare providers

By Elizabeth Snell

- Continuing Medical Education (CME) is a valuable resource for the future of healthcare, but there are still opportunities for greater use of the system, according to a recent report by the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Physician Leadership Forum.

CME provides support for continuous improvement and learning to help physicians address gaps in their professional practice. Many hospitals offer accredited continuing education activities,  while participation in accredited CME helps physicians meet requirements for many professional privileges. These include but are not limited to renewal of license, maintenance of specialty board certification, credentialing and membership in professional societies.

More than 1,100 hospitals and health systems provided 35 percent of the accredited CME in 2013, the report showed. However, it was recommended that there be a greater use of performance-based CME, more streamlined accreditation standards and broader sharing of best practices. Additionally, the AHA stated that higher levels of communication between CME departments and senior leadership would benefit CME and having more physician leaders involved as champions in CME could further improve the use of CME as a strategic resource for hospitals.

For the survey, approximately 500 members of AHA’s policy development and governance groups were interviewed. Respondents were asked to rate the value of CME and its overall effectiveness in addressing the ACGME/American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) six core competencies: professionalism, patient care and procedural skills, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, system-based practice.

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  • “Historically, CME has focused on the sharing of medical knowledge rather than developing professional and institutional competencies that might be necessary to transform care, improve outcomes, and practice efficiently and effectively in the hospital setting,” the report’s authors said. “Today’s rapidly changing health care delivery system requires physicians and hospitals to partner to transform the delivery model, and CME, as an existing mechanism, can enhance and strengthen that partnership.”

    Respondents rated CME 4.2 on a five point scale, but said that it CMS has mainly been used to address medical knowledge and patient care within their organizations. The survey showed that CME was rated as being most effective in addressing medical knowledge and improving quality and patient care. However, respondents found it least effective in improving efficiency of physician practice, encouraging system-based care delivery and communication across the continuum, promoting team-based care delivery, and increasing physician engagement in the organization.

    The survey also highlighted several challenges that have arisen through the use of CMS. Respondents said that “obtaining CME accreditation [could] be paperwork-intensive, time-consuming, and somewhat expensive and felt that the standards were not sufficiently in tune with new learning modes to allow for experimentation.”

    Members also suggested that technology should be used more often to streamline processes associated with offering CME. The survey also showed that members find challenges in garnering attendance and that there can be a lack of “buy-in” or cooperation from physicians.

    Overall, there were a few respondents who did not see CME as a strategic resource, but the majority of members said it was an alignment opportunity that, “if done right, could help manage patient care and improve performance.”