Does CME Research Impact My Job?
Every time the JCEHP arrives in my in-box, I’ll admit it, I groan a little. Will it be another study about improvements made by implementing an ongoing clinical intervention connected to a patient outcomes tracking system? Many of us don’t have access to something so sophisticated (or expensive).
Or maybe it’s another “Framework” for doing something – measuring outcomes, assessing effectiveness, etc, etc. Who has time to implement another framework?! I’ve got work to get done!
But recently, one of my physician clients asked in all seriousness, “Is there really a correlation between being ACCME compliant and providing an excellent meeting experience for attendees?” My gut answer is a resounding, “YES!” And lucky for me, many of our esteemed colleagues have created an incredible pool of proof, in the JCEHP and elsewhere, putting their time and possibly tears into producing research that backs up my experience with data.
Ah, data. Tricky thing, data. Tricky to collect, tricky to analyze, tricky to write up.
So to those of you who are contributing to this important and evolving area of study, THANK YOU! And to the rest of us, let’s get serious. Serious about how important it is to support those who work to improve our profession. If research isn’t your thing, perhaps you can inspire others to participate?
The editors of the JCEHP recently published a helpful editorial, pointing out errors that are often made when reporting evaluations of educational outcomes. This will be useful as I work with one of my clients to finalize the update to this manuscript. I commit to doing everything I can to support this effort and advocate/nag them into producing the next update as soon as possible.
Will you join me?