Pri-Med Institute Research Links CME to Changes in Clinical Practice Behavior.

BOSTON -- Effective continuing medical education programs produce significant shifts in the clinical practice behavior of primary care physicians, concludes a nationwide study released today by the Pri-Med Institute.

When surveyed four to six weeks after participating in CME conferences, attendees reported that they were more likely to incorporate clinical guidelines presented as part of the curriculum into their practice than before receiving the education. A recent pilot study of participants in Pri-Med Updates CME conferences in nine cities across the country found that the self-reported impact of continuing medical education on clinical practice was substantial across a variety of conditions and disease states commonly treated in primary care.

"The pace at which new guidelines are adopted can have an important impact on patient care," Marissa Seligman, vice president of the Pri-Med Institute said. "In just the past year, we have seen new guidelines proposed for hypertension, dyslipidemia and gastrointestinal disorders. But progressing from introduction to adoption of a new standard in clinical practice throughout the U.S. takes an average of seven years.

More than 97% of the physicians surveyed reported that they are able to use clinical education provided at Pri-Med Updates conferences in their practices. In terms of specific conditions, more than 30% reported incorporating the clinical guidelines presented at a CME program into practice in treating intermittent claudication and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Statistically significant increases were also reported for stress urinary incontinence, gastro-intestinal reflux disease (GERD), neuropathic pain and congestive heart failure.

Prior to the Pri-Med Updates conferences, participating doctors were asked to analyze a specific case-based scenario in each of thirteen conditions or disease states and determine a diagnostic and treatment path. They were presented with the same case scenarios again four-to-six weeks after clinical guidelines were presented at the conferences, enabling researchers to measure self-reported changes in clinical practice behavior.

"The Pri-Med Institute study demonstrated that the impact of CME on clinical practice behavior is greatest in both conditions where there are not yet widely accepted or uniform guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, and where new research and treatment options present alternatives to established guidelines," Anne Goodrich, Pri-Med Institute director of research said. "Change is least evident in conditions such as asthma where treatment methods and tools are uniformly well established. The pipeline of new drug therapies could yield an affect on this."

"While not all CME programs present clinical guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, we now have compelling evidence that those that do so are more effective in enhancing patient care," Goodrich said.

Information provided by Pri-Med. Pri-Med is the leading continuing medical education provider for primary care practitioners, psychiatrists and pharmacists in the United States. With a nationwide network of over 85 programs, Pri-Med has delivered world class continuing medical education over the last ten years to more than 125,000 clinicians locally.