Effect of COVID-19 on Continuing Education Activities and Learner Interactions: Report from Six Accreditation Systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had disruptive effects on all parts of the health-care system, including the continuing education (CE) landscape. This report documents, what has happened in six different CE accreditation systems to CE activities as well as learners. Complete lockdown periods in the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic have inevitably led to reductions in numbers of the then predominant format of education, i.

Standards for Substantive Equivalency between Continuing Professional Development/Continuing Medical Education (CPD/CME) Accreditation Systems.

The International Academy for Continuing Professional Development Accreditation (IACPDA) is dedicated to advocating for and enhancing the development, implementation and evolution of continuing medical education (CME)/continuing professional development (CPD) accreditation systems throughout the world by providing an opportunity for individuals in leadership positions to (a) learn about the values, principles and metrics of varying CME/CPD accreditation systems; (b) explore the accreditation standards for CME/CPD provider organisations and activities under differing systems; and (c) foster evaluations to measure the impact of CME/CPD accreditation systems on physician learning, competence, performance, and healthcare outcomes. IACPDA has developed a shared set of international standards to guide the accreditation of CME/CPD for medical doctors and healthcare teams globally, which have been adopted in the Cologne Consensus Conference on 10 September 2020. These standards will also be used to determine substantive equivalency between accrediting bodies.

Prescription Rates for Antiplatelet Therapy (APT) in Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) - What Benchmark are We Aiming at in Continuing Medical Education (CME)?

Physicians always aim to improve their patients' health. CME should be designed not only to provide knowledge transfer, but also to influence clinical decision-making and to close performance gaps. In aretrospective study we analysed prescription rates for APT in 254,932 CAD patients (male: 64.

Outcomes in CME/CPD - Special Collection: How to make the "pyramid" a perpetuum mobile.

Continuing medical education (CME) should not be an end in itself, but as expressed in Moore's pyramid, help to improve both individual patient and ultimately community, health. However, there are numerous barriers to translation of physician competence into improvements in community health. To enhance the effect CME may achieve in improving community health the authors suggest a kick-off/keep-on continuum of medical competence, and integration of aspects of public health at all levels from planning to delivery and outcomes measurement in CME.

Regulating for Bias in Medical Education - Reaction to the Pharmaceutical Industry Updated EFPIA Code of Practice.

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) representing the pharmaceutical industry operating in Europe, introduced three codes of conduct between 2007 and 2013, which had a common goal of self-regulating interactions with healthcare professionals and patient organisations. This former set of rules was appreciated as a first self-regulatory step, although self-regulation itself is still considered by many stakeholders as insufficient to provide thorough transparency. EFPIA agreed to replace the separate codes with a new, consolidated EFPIA Code of Practice.

The future of accreditation of continuing medical education (CME)-continuing professional development (CPD) in Europe: harmonisation through dialogue and consensus.

In Europe, there are currently some 30 different jurisdictions and no overarching legislation regarding CME-CPD accreditation, since legislative competency related to national health-care systems lies with national authorities. Thus, public demonstration of professional agreement regarding the principles, rules and practice of CME-CPD as well as its accreditation is a highly desirable professional and political objective in Europe, where free movement and freedom to offer professional (medical) services is a key feature of the EU vision of the single market. The newly formed association of independent European accreditors, Continuing Medical Education - European Accreditors (CME-EA) is committed to offering a platform for dialogue between individuals and organisations involved in definition of professional codes in general, and accreditation of CME-CPD in particular on the national level.

Roles and Responsibilities in the Provision of Accredited Continuing Medical Education/Continuing Professional Development.

The Cologne Consensus Conference 2015 has focused on "Providers in accredited CME[continuing medical education]/CPD [continuing professional development]". As an outcome of the CCC 2015, the authors of this paper, who were part of the faculty, propose a contemporary definition of the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders involved in the different stages of planning, delivery and evaluation of CME/CPD.

Position paper on current aspects of sponsoring in accredited CME.

This position paper is the result of a collaborative approach of several European Specialty Accreditation Boards (ESABs) and, has been stimulated by their current experience in accreditation regarding roles and responsibilities assumed by sponsors of accredited continuing medical education (CME). The suggestions made in this paper aim to preserve the fundamental principle in CME accreditation that the physician in charge of the programme has sole responsibility for the selection of topics, speakers, content and format, as well as mode of presentation, and that sponsors will under no circumstances interfere with this principle. This is considered as a responsibility of an individual physician (or physicians), which cannot be delegated, even in part, to third parties.

An Analysis of 2.3 Million Participations in the Continuing Medical Education Program of a General Medical Journal: Suitability, User Characteristics, and Evaluation by Readers.

Background: Physicians frequently use continuing medical education (CME) in journals. However, little is known of the evaluation of journal CME by readers and also user and participation characteristics. Deutsches Ärzteblatt, the journal of the German Medical Association, is distributed to every physician in Germany and regularly offers its readers CME articles.

European Board for Accreditation in Cardiology (EBAC) 2015 CME/CPD Survey Summary.

In the spring of 2015, the European Board for Accreditation in Cardiology (EBAC) collaborated with International CME/CPD Consulting to design and administer a survey to approximately 1,171 professionals active in the field of European CME/CPD, with a focus on cardiology. With a nearly 5% response rate, the results herewith are non-representative, but do express current behaviours and attitudes of those active in European accredited CME/CPD.

Case management program for patients with chronic heart failure: effectiveness in terms of mortality, hospital admissions and costs.

Background: At 360 000 cases annually, heart failure is the most common main diagnosis in adults in German hospitals. Treating heart failure is expensive. This study tested whether patients in the case management program (CMP) "CorBene--Better Care for Patients With Heart Failure" have a lower mortality rate and lower hospital admission and readmission rates than patients receiving regular management.

Association of long-term adherence to evidence-based combination drug therapy after acute myocardial infarction with all-cause mortality. A prospective cohort study based on claims data.

Purpose: To determine long-term adherence to evidence-based secondary preventive combination pharmacotherapy in survivors of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to investigate the association between adherence to recommended therapy and all-cause mortality in claims data.

Methods: Prospective cohort study based on claims data of an 18.75 % random sample of all persons insured with the local statutory health insurance fund AOK Hesse.

CME in a general medical journal: three-year evaluation of CME in Deutsches Arzteblatt.

Purpose: There is a dearth of data regarding journal-based continuing medical education (CME) programs. Deutsches Arzteblatt has been publishing CME articles since 2004. Articles are accompanied by a test on the article's content as well as a readers' evaluation questionnaire.

Long-term effects of a multimodal behavioral intervention on myocardial perfusion--a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Recent advances in drug therapy question as to the additional impact behavioral interventions may have on the prognosis of patients with clinically stable coronary heart disease (CHD).

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of a multimodal, behavioral intervention on myocardial perfusion (MP) and cardiac events, compared to standardized cardiologic care, in patients with stable CHD.

Methods: Seventy-seven CHD patients (age 54.

[Comparative evaluation of sponsored and unsponsored continuing medical education].

Background And Purpose: Continuing medical education (CME), by law, has to be free of commercial influences. Sponsoring of CME in Germany has never been evaluated regarding potential influences on presentation of data and perception of participants. The present paper evaluates the impact of sponsoring on accredited CME events.

[How long do doctors need to read a paper in specialist journals presenting accredited continuing medical education (CME)?].

Background And Purpose: In Germany, 45 min of continuing medical education (CME) are awarded 1 credit point. It was the aim of this study to assess the time amount needed to read a CME article in a wide variety of specialist journals.

Material And Methods: All CME articles in 18 specialist journals presented in 2004 were analyzed, which had all used the same evaluation form provided by the Chamber of Physicians North Rhine (65,393 evaluation forms of 12,587 participants).

[Structure of text and multiple-choice questions in continuing medical education (CME) in two specialist journals].

Background And Purpose: In Germany, accredited CME articles have to present ten multiple-choice questions (MCQs) per article for knowledge assessment [1]. It was the aim of this study to describe the selection of key messages for construction of MCQs and their relation to clinical relevance of the content.

Methods: 23 CME articles in two specialist journals (Der Orthopäde [The Orthopedist] and Der Unfallchirurg [The Trauma Surgeon]) were analyzed.