IOM Calls for Continuing Education Institute

A public-private institution launched by the Department of Health and Human Services would be the best way to raise standards and quality for continuing health education, according to a report issued by the Institute of Medicine.

Serious flaws exist in the way that continuing education for physicians and other health professionals is “conducted, financed, regulated, and evaluated,” concluded the authors of the 200-page report “Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions.” They added, “The science underpinning continuing education for health professionals is fragmented and underdeveloped.” Because of that, “establishing a national interprofessional continuing education institute is a promising way to foster improvements in how health professionals carry out their responsibilities,” the authors said.

The 14-member Institute of Medicine committee that produced the report proposed the creation of a public-private entity that would involve the full spectrum of stakeholders in health care delivery and continuing education.

That new entity, which would be called the Continuing Professional Development Institute (CPDI), would look at new financing mechanisms aimed at helping avoid potential conflicts of interest. The institute also would develop priorities for research in continuing health education.

The medical community must move from a culture of continuing education to one of “continuing professional development … stretching from the classroom to the point of care, shifting control of learning to individual practitioners, and [adapting] to the individual's learning needs,” said committee chair Dr. Gail Warden.

“We believe that academic institutions need to be much more engaged than they have been in continuing education,” Dr. Warden, president emeritus of the Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, said during a teleconference. “The system should engender coordination and collaboration among professions that should provide higher quality for a given amount of resources and lead to improvements in patient health and safety.”

Rick Kennison, D.P.M., president and general manager of PeerPoint Medical Education Institute, which is a continuing medical education vendor, said he agreed with the committee's recommendations in the area of traditional CME. Those types of programs, such as society annual meetings, “are didactic in nature [and] don't meet the needs of participants as learners, and there is conflict and bias associated with them.”

But a large problem with the report is that the committee reviewed continuing medical education as it used to be, Dr. Kennison said. “They wanted to evaluate a model of a car, but instead of using a 2010 model, they used a 2006 model,” he said. “There have been a lot of changes in CME in the course of the last few years that were completely overlooked.”

The report, sponsored by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, is available at www.iom.edu/continuinged

My Take

Cost, Effectiveness Are Key

The proposed institute could have a dramatic effect on continuing “education” requirements for health care professionals. Through the establishment of a professionally inclusive public-private institute, research on the effectiveness of continuing education models could inform the health professional community about how best to develop educational programs and continuing professional competencies.

Although interdisciplinary health team education might improve health outcomes for patients, it's difficult to assess the value of single interventions on patient outcomes. Also, each profession, such as medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, will continue to have specific needs for professional education.

Several institutions have embraced the newest standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Their modified programs involve active learning and outcomes evaluation, and avoid potential conflicts of interest associated with financial support by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. However, in an era of economic constraints, new standards developed by any organization must consider not only educational efficacy but also efficiency and cost.

DR. BARBARA SCHUSTER is campus dean of the Medical College of Georgia/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, Athens, Ga. She reports no relevant conflicts of interest.

A public-private institution launched by the Department of Health and Human Services would be the best way to raise standards and quality for continuing health education, according to a report issued by the Institute of Medicine.

Serious flaws exist in the way that continuing education for physicians and other health professionals is “conducted, financed, regulated, and evaluated,” concluded the authors of the 200-page report “Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions.” They added, “The science underpinning continuing education for health professionals is fragmented and underdeveloped.” Because of that, “establishing a national interprofessional continuing education institute is a promising way to foster improvements in how health professionals carry out their responsibilities,” the authors said.

The 14-member Institute of Medicine committee that produced the report proposed the creation of a public-private entity that would involve the full spectrum of stakeholders in health care delivery and continuing education.

That new entity, which would be called the Continuing Professional Development Institute (CPDI), would look at new financing mechanisms aimed at helping avoid potential conflicts of interest. The institute also would develop priorities for research in continuing health education.

The medical community must move from a culture of continuing education to one of “continuing professional development … stretching from the classroom to the point of care, shifting control of learning to individual practitioners, and [adapting] to the individual's learning needs,” said committee chair Dr. Gail Warden.

“We believe that academic institutions need to be much more engaged than they have been in continuing education,” Dr. Warden, president emeritus of the Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, said during a teleconference. “The system should engender coordination and collaboration among professions that should provide higher quality for a given amount of resources and lead to improvements in patient health and safety.”

Rick Kennison, D.P.M., president and general manager of PeerPoint Medical Education Institute, which is a continuing medical education vendor, said he agreed with the committee's recommendations in the area of traditional CME. Those types of programs, such as society annual meetings, “are didactic in nature [and] don't meet the needs of participants as learners, and there is conflict and bias associated with them.”

But a large problem with the report is that the committee reviewed continuing medical education as it used to be, Dr. Kennison said. “They wanted to evaluate a model of a car, but instead of using a 2010 model, they used a 2006 model,” he said. “There have been a lot of changes in CME in the course of the last few years that were completely overlooked.”

The report, sponsored by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, is available at www.iom.edu/continuinged

My Take

Cost, Effectiveness Are Key

The proposed institute could have a dramatic effect on continuing “education” requirements for health care professionals. Through the establishment of a professionally inclusive public-private institute, research on the effectiveness of continuing education models could inform the health professional community about how best to develop educational programs and continuing professional competencies.

Although interdisciplinary health team education might improve health outcomes for patients, it's difficult to assess the value of single interventions on patient outcomes. Also, each profession, such as medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, will continue to have specific needs for professional education.

Several institutions have embraced the newest standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Their modified programs involve active learning and outcomes evaluation, and avoid potential conflicts of interest associated with financial support by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. However, in an era of economic constraints, new standards developed by any organization must consider not only educational efficacy but also efficiency and cost.

DR. BARBARA SCHUSTER is campus dean of the Medical College of Georgia/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, Athens, Ga. She reports no relevant conflicts of interest.

A public-private institution launched by the Department of Health and Human Services would be the best way to raise standards and quality for continuing health education, according to a report issued by the Institute of Medicine.

Serious flaws exist in the way that continuing education for physicians and other health professionals is “conducted, financed, regulated, and evaluated,” concluded the authors of the 200-page report “Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions.” They added, “The science underpinning continuing education for health professionals is fragmented and underdeveloped.” Because of that, “establishing a national interprofessional continuing education institute is a promising way to foster improvements in how health professionals carry out their responsibilities,” the authors said.

The 14-member Institute of Medicine committee that produced the report proposed the creation of a public-private entity that would involve the full spectrum of stakeholders in health care delivery and continuing education.

That new entity, which would be called the Continuing Professional Development Institute (CPDI), would look at new financing mechanisms aimed at helping avoid potential conflicts of interest. The institute also would develop priorities for research in continuing health education.

The medical community must move from a culture of continuing education to one of “continuing professional development … stretching from the classroom to the point of care, shifting control of learning to individual practitioners, and [adapting] to the individual's learning needs,” said committee chair Dr. Gail Warden.

“We believe that academic institutions need to be much more engaged than they have been in continuing education,” Dr. Warden, president emeritus of the Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, said during a teleconference. “The system should engender coordination and collaboration among professions that should provide higher quality for a given amount of resources and lead to improvements in patient health and safety.”

Rick Kennison, D.P.M., president and general manager of PeerPoint Medical Education Institute, which is a continuing medical education vendor, said he agreed with the committee's recommendations in the area of traditional CME. Those types of programs, such as society annual meetings, “are didactic in nature [and] don't meet the needs of participants as learners, and there is conflict and bias associated with them.”

But a large problem with the report is that the committee reviewed continuing medical education as it used to be, Dr. Kennison said. “They wanted to evaluate a model of a car, but instead of using a 2010 model, they used a 2006 model,” he said. “There have been a lot of changes in CME in the course of the last few years that were completely overlooked.”

The report, sponsored by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, is available at www.iom.edu/continuinged

My Take

Cost, Effectiveness Are Key

The proposed institute could have a dramatic effect on continuing “education” requirements for health care professionals. Through the establishment of a professionally inclusive public-private institute, research on the effectiveness of continuing education models could inform the health professional community about how best to develop educational programs and continuing professional competencies.

Although interdisciplinary health team education might improve health outcomes for patients, it's difficult to assess the value of single interventions on patient outcomes. Also, each profession, such as medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, will continue to have specific needs for professional education.

Several institutions have embraced the newest standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Their modified programs involve active learning and outcomes evaluation, and avoid potential conflicts of interest associated with financial support by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. However, in an era of economic constraints, new standards developed by any organization must consider not only educational efficacy but also efficiency and cost.

DR. BARBARA SCHUSTER is campus dean of the Medical College of Georgia/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, Athens, Ga. She reports no relevant conflicts of interest.