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  • CME Activity Targets Opioid Epidemic Through Adaptive Learning

    CME Activity Targets Opioid Epidemic Through Adaptive Learning

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    Press Release
    –


    updated: Sep 23, 2019


    COLUMBIA, Md., September 23, 2019 (Newswire.com)
    –
    On each day in 2017, 91 deaths were attributed to opioid overdose; in fact, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids has increased six-fold since 1999. The numbers are clear: clinicians are failing to alleviate the nation’s growing opioid crisis. Through an adaptive-learning continuing medical education (CME) program, a collaboration of several organizations (Rockpointe, University of North Texas, CogBooks, and O’Donnell Learn) and available through the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) CE Certification Directory, is offering a new approach to help clinicians turn the tide against an epidemic that has had catastrophic consequences.

    To help address the opioid crisis, the FDA developed a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for the use of outpatient opioid analgesics and, in 2012, issued an educational blueprint to provide guidance on prescribing opioid analgesics for pain management. In September 2018, the FDA updated the blueprint to include additional information on pain management, such as components of an effective treatment plan, non-pharmacologic treatments for pain, pharmacologic treatments for pain (non-opioid and opioid analgesics), and a primer on addiction medicine. It also widened the scope of the blueprint to apply not only to prescribers, but to all healthcare providers involved in the management of patients with pain.

    Rockpointe’s new adaptive-learning CME activity, “Opioid Analgesics: Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) and the New FDA Blueprint,” presents participating clinicians with a thorough review of the FDA’s updated educational blueprint to facilitate the evidence-based management of pain in their patients on a daily basis. The education provides tools to help clinicians mitigate issues associated with opioid therapies, such as misuse and addiction. The program aims to educate 10,000 clinicians using adaptive-learning technologies, with the results to be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

    Physicians across many specialties manage acute and chronic pain in their patients on a daily basis. With 58 opioid prescriptions written for every 100 people in the United States in 2017, it is imperative that clinicians integrate non-pharmacologic and non-opioid analgesics into pain treatment plans in an evidence-based manner, appropriately identify patients who are candidates for opioid therapy, and recognize how to effectively monitor these patients during treatment periods. This activity is intended for those involved in direct patient care, including clinicians registered with the DEA who are eligible to prescribe all opioid analgesics. In addition, because of the broader scope of the revised FDA educational blueprint, the intended audience may include members of the healthcare team who are not authorized to prescribe.

    After completing the activity, participants should be able to:

    ·         Define the components of an effective treatment plan, such as treatment goals, patient engagement, and collaboration within the healthcare team;

    ·         Assess the risks and benefits of non-pharmacologic therapies prior to initiating long-term pharmacologic therapy;

    ·         Identify patients who are candidates for treatment with non-opioid pharmacologic analgesics;

    ·         Evaluate criteria for initiating opioid analgesics; and

    ·         Identify risk factors for addiction to opioid analgesics.

    Adaptive Learning

    The program’s adaptive-learning instructional design allows for a tailored educational experience that addresses the unique needs of each learner. The activity incorporates text, interactive questions, and audio recordings of faculty experts synced with a slide presentation. Depending on each participant’s response to the questions in the activity, an algorithm creates a unique educational pathway. Those with a good grasp of a concept move closer to completion, while others with less knowledge are provided additional content/questions to assist in gaining an adequate understanding of a topic. Post-activity content-based questions are used to assess learning, along with measures of clinicians’ perceptions of the content and their confidence in managing patients with pain.

    This CME program is available online at www.CElink.Rockpointe.com. Clinicians will be able to claim CME credit upon successful completion of the program.

    This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) and Rockpointe. UNTHSC is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. UNTHSC designates this enduring material for a maximum of 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

    Through the American Board of Medical Specialties (“ABMS”) ongoing commitment to increase access to practice relevant Continuing Certification Activities through the ABMS Continuing Certification Directory, “Opioid Analgesics: Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) and the New FDA Blueprint” has met the requirements as a MOC Part II Self-Assessment or MOC Part II CME Activity (apply toward general CME requirement) for the following ABMS Member Boards:

    MOC Part II Self-Assessment Activity
    Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

    MOC Part II CME Activity
    Allergy and Immunology
    Anesthesiology
    Family Medicine
    Internal Medicine
    Medical Genetics and Genomics
    Nuclear Medicine
    Pediatrics
    Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
    Preventive Medicine
    Psychiatry and Neurology
    Radiology
    Thoracic Surgery
    Urology

    This CME webcourse is available through Aug. 30, 2020, and the on-demand format allows participants to view the presentation at their own convenience from the comfort of their home or office.

    This activity is supported by an independent educational grant from the Opioid Analgesic REMS Program Companies. For a list of REMS Program Companies, see: https://ce.opioidanalgesicrems.com/RpcCEUI/
    rems/pdf/resources/List_of_RPC_Companies.pdf.

    Through effective continuing medical education, Rockpointe strives to improve and advance the quality of patient care. Its educational programs have been at the forefront of new issues in healthcare, including implementing MIPS, combating the nation’s opioid crisis, and utilizing technical advances that improve care. As part of its commitment to quality, Rockpointe works to inform the continuing-education community of significant quality-improvement issues through news and analysis on Policy and Medicine. In addition, its popular Medical Education Exchange (MEDX) CME regional meetings include sessions on the basics of quality improvement and alternative payment models, as well as relevant and scientifically accurate sessions on numerous disease states. All sessions include links back to associated National Quality Priorities to reinforce the bigger picture and the triple aim of: 1) improving health and 2) lowering cost to 3) better the patient experience. At Rockpointe, education equals quality.

    Source: Rockpointe Corp

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  • Study Demonstrates Impact of CME Activities on Clinician Awareness of Biosimilars

    Study Demonstrates Impact of CME Activities on Clinician Awareness of Biosimilars

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    Press Release
    –


    updated: Jun 21, 2019


    COLUMBIA, Md., June 21, 2019 (Newswire.com)
    –
    ​​The outcomes of a recent continuing medical education (CME) program, the results of which were published in the June 20 issue of Evidence-based Oncology in an article titled “Addressing Oncologists’ Gaps in the Use of Biosimilar Products,” demonstrated that, prior to participating in the education activity, only 22% of oncology healthcare providers (HCPs) knew the basic aspects of biosimilars, i.e. how biosimilars differ from generic drugs and the requirements for FDA approval. Following completion of the education, knowledge of biosimilars increased 56% (from 22% to 78%). The educational program demonstrated not only the need for continued efforts to educate healthcare providers about biosimilars but also demonstrated the ability of education to effectively address the current gaps among HCPs in using biosimilars. The study was based on the results from a Rockpointe-developed educational initiative, “From Biologics to Biosimilars in Oncology Practice: A New Source of Value,” deployed in 2017 and 2018 with the goal of better preparing medical oncologists, hematologists, nurses, pharmacists and other clinicians to incorporate biosimilars into the treatment paradigm for patients with cancer. The initiative consisted of expert-led, interactive CME activities, based on a core curriculum and presented as a series of three live meetings and an online course.

    Both the live and online activities featured a slide-based lecture with interactive multiple-choice questions. A total of 9,599 individuals participated in the activities, including 114 during regional meetings and 9,485 in an online webcourse. To measure the impact of the education, each question was posed twice: once before exposure to the education and once immediately after exposure. Live activity participants also were invited to complete an electronic follow-up survey, including the same questions at six to eight weeks after the event, to measure knowledge retention over time.

    Key study findings

    ·         In the aggregate, scores on practice-impact questions improved from 22% at baseline to 78% during the post-test, with similar trends seen with the webcourse (23% to 78%) and the regional live meetings (27% to 81%).  In a survey, 60 days after completion of the education activity, close to half the learners (47%) reported competency with utilizing biosimilars in their practice.

    ·         After completion of the activity, significantly more participants understood the level of evidence needed for biosimilars to be approved by the FDA, representing 68% and 66% absolute increases among live meeting and webcourse attendees, respectively.

    ·         Prior to the activity, only 10% of live meeting attendees knew that a biosimilar must demonstrate no clinically meaningful differences with the reference biologic, in terms of safety, purity, and potency; this indicates the magnitude of the gap among community oncology clinicians in understanding the approval process for biosimilars.

    ·          Knowledge of the evidence leading to approval by the FDA of the biosimilar MYL-1401O (trastuzumab-dkst) for treating breast cancer increased significantly following both activities: 36% pre-test to 96% post-test in the live meetings, and 17% pre-test to 62% post-test in the webcourse (P<0.05).

    ·         Self-reported familiarity with the biosimilar approval process improved threefold, increasing from 21% at baseline to 69% immediately after the activity, while confidence in using biosimilars increased from 25% to 36% in pre- and post-activity measurements. The smaller rise in confidence in using biosimilars suggests that healthcare providers remain somewhat hesitant to integrate biosimilars into practice and that additional exposures to biosimilar education in this specific learner group should result in even greater uptake of knowledge, comprehension and competence.

    ·         Interestingly, none of the six barriers to the use of biosimilars that were queried were rated as major barriers by most participants. Institutional or formulary restrictions were most often cited as a major barrier (15%), followed by patient reluctance to use biosimilars (12%), lack of familiarity with the biosimilar approval process (12%), lack of efficacy data (11%), lack of safety data (11%), and other, including lack of time, cost of therapies, and insurance (10%).

    ·         Based on a 73.1% non-overlap between scores measured at baseline and at the end of the live activity, it is estimated that the 114 clinicians who participated in the regional meetings are 73.1% more likely to deliver evidence-based care for cancer, positively affecting the care of patients seen during 2,641 visits each month. Similarly, the webcourse was associated with a large effect size, with 81.1% nonoverlap between pre-test and post-test scores. It is estimated that the 9,485 clinicians who participated in the online activity are 81.1% more likely to deliver evidence-based care for cancer, positively affecting the care of patients seen during 55,345 visits each month.

    The study showed that educating clinicians on Biosimilars will increase the knowledge and familiarity with those providers, potentially seeing cost savings with similar outcomes across the board.

    To read the full study, go to https://www.ajmc.com/journals/evidence-based-oncology/2019/june-2019/addressing-oncologists-gaps-in-the-use-of-biosimilar-products.

    All activities have been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

    Through effective continuing medical education, Rockpointe strives to improve and advance the quality of patient care. Its educational programs have been at the forefront of new issues in healthcare, including implementing MIPS, combating the nation’s opioid crisis and utilizing technical advances that improve care. As part of its commitment to quality, Rockpointe works to inform the continuing-education community of significant quality-improvement issues through news and analysis on Policy and Medicine. At Rockpointe, education equals quality.

    Source: Rockpointe Corp

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