Effectiveness and time efficiency

Many of us think of CME in terms of hours
  • Does it makes sense to measure impact in terms of the reported hours spent attending an AMA PRA Category 1 Credit ™ based CME activity?
  • Do we measure resident performance by hours spent?
In fact, the CME system actually only refers to "credits" earned (AMA, 2010)

As CME changes (ACCME, 2008), eventually we may be better able to distinguish between efforts that are more time efficient. Credits would then be awarded based on:
  • required measurements to assess pre-existing skills and post-training changes
  • task accomplishment such as required post-test score attainment.
  • the anticipated value of the activity (perhaps it requires more effort or more effort over time) rather than its time commitment
References
  1. American Medical Association, The Physician’s Recognition Award and credit system: Information for accredited providers and physicians [monograph on the Internet]. Chicago, IL: 2010. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/cme/pra-booklet.pdf.
  2. Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education; CME as a bridge to quality: Leadership, learning, and change within the ACCME System [monograph on the Internet]. Chicago, IL: 2008 Jan. Available from: http://www.accme.org/dir_docs/doc_upload/e2843247-7cae-40fe-a0eb-27a982b8fcc0_uploaddocument.pdf
Copyright 2011, Bradley Tanner