TY - JOUR
T1 - Take heart
T2 - A one-on-one peer-based strategy to improve acute coronary syndrome patient care
AU - Stowell, Stephanie A.
AU - Cannon, Christopher P.
AU - Hoekstra, James W.
AU - Peterson, Eric D.
AU - Miller, Sara C.
PY - 2011/12
Y1 - 2011/12
N2 - Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) result in more than 1 million hospitalizations each year in the United States and are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite evidence-based treatment guidelines and advances in therapeutic strategies, the need for well-educated practitioners to provide quality patient care is still evident. As such, continuing medical education (CME) and consultation with recognized experts are valuable tools that can enhance clinical knowledge and lead to improvements in best practices. In a CME platform, collaborative dialogue with nationally recognized opinion leaders within the field of ACS enabled 111 clinician participants to develop strategies for personal practice improvement. Faculty experts addressed specific challenging clinical questions posed by participants regarding 1 of 4 preselected topics related to the care of patients with ACS. After a 3-month period, 94% of participants reported that their strategies for practice improvement had affected patient care. Participants also rated the utility of national guidelines in their practices higher following participation in the activity and demonstrated improved clinical knowledge. As a result of this activity, participants were able to solve self-identified issues in clinical practice as well as improve their understanding of current clinical practice guidelines. Adherence to guideline-recommended care was associated with improvements in patient outcomes, and participant feedback suggests that this was an effective type of CME platform that resulted in positive changes in patient care. Furthermore, considerable interest exists for the application of this model in other therapeutic areas.
AB - Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) result in more than 1 million hospitalizations each year in the United States and are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite evidence-based treatment guidelines and advances in therapeutic strategies, the need for well-educated practitioners to provide quality patient care is still evident. As such, continuing medical education (CME) and consultation with recognized experts are valuable tools that can enhance clinical knowledge and lead to improvements in best practices. In a CME platform, collaborative dialogue with nationally recognized opinion leaders within the field of ACS enabled 111 clinician participants to develop strategies for personal practice improvement. Faculty experts addressed specific challenging clinical questions posed by participants regarding 1 of 4 preselected topics related to the care of patients with ACS. After a 3-month period, 94% of participants reported that their strategies for practice improvement had affected patient care. Participants also rated the utility of national guidelines in their practices higher following participation in the activity and demonstrated improved clinical knowledge. As a result of this activity, participants were able to solve self-identified issues in clinical practice as well as improve their understanding of current clinical practice guidelines. Adherence to guideline-recommended care was associated with improvements in patient outcomes, and participant feedback suggests that this was an effective type of CME platform that resulted in positive changes in patient care. Furthermore, considerable interest exists for the application of this model in other therapeutic areas.
KW - acute coronary syndromes
KW - continuing medical education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=81755188374&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=81755188374&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/HPC.0b013e318236c330
DO - 10.1097/HPC.0b013e318236c330
M3 - Article
C2 - 22089271
AN - SCOPUS:81755188374
SN - 1535-282X
VL - 10
SP - 164
EP - 168
JO - Critical pathways in cardiology
JF - Critical pathways in cardiology
IS - 4
ER -