Tips and Innovations in CE/CPD Practice

Learn to Thrive PLUS: The ACCME’s 2023 Annual Meeting Follow-up Fall Workshop

By Natalie Sanfratello, MPH

This past October 24, 2023, the ACCME held its inaugural Learn to Thrive PLUS, a 5.75 hour webinar advertised as an opportunity for both participants and non-participants of the ACCME annual conference last May to build-upon their learning.  This workshop was another CPD/CE offering among a growing ACCME effort to provide direct professional development education to its accredited providers. 

The general structure of the meeting included an opening session, three 45 minute concurrent sessions with networking breaks in between and a 30 minute wrap up at the end. The opening session introduced the purpose, covered the format, and described ACCME services such as digitizing CME credit and the ACCME Academy, and gave a brief status update on the 3 working groups which formed after the May meeting. The ACCME staff then divided the participants into three groups for the concurrent sessions, each of which had a theme: 1) CE Research & Innovation/Leadership, Strategic Planning & Commendation; 2) CE Program Management/Learning Science; and 3) Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA). Attendees were rotated through the three sessions. Each concurrent session consisted of bite-sized versions of these presentations at the annual meeting (less than 10 minutes each) followed by breakout groups to discuss the learnings and debrief.   

Below, I have summarized some excellent tips and tricks from a few of the sessions:

• Facing Your Fears: Tips and Tools to Start your CE Research Journey

1. When starting in CE research, it is helpful to remember that there are four dimensions of research – discovery, teaching, integration, and application

2. It is best to start with a framework outlining the steps necessary: 1) define purpose; 2) determine research design and methodology; 3) establish research methods; 4) data collection and analysis; 4) ethical considerations; and 5) plan for dissemination.¹

3. Some examples of CE research include: assessment of HCP learning needs; evaluation of CME programs; evaluations of teaching methods; assessment of learning styles; identification of barriers to learning; analysis of patient outcomes; development of new teaching methods; impact of CME on clinical practice; cost effectiveness of CME; evaluation of CME accreditation; and use of technology in CME.¹

• Any CE Provider Can Pursue Commendation: It’s all in the Planning

1. It is most helpful to review criteria well in advance to determine which ones your program could most likely achieve and to then track progress in real time. You can use any tool to track, even Excel!²

2. Your CME committee can be a useful resource to achieving commendation. They should be included in on-going planning discussions and updates.²

3. Leverage existing resources and tools to create your plan, monitor progress, and help ensure compliance.²

• Automation Tools that Simplify Planning and Maximize Compliance

1. Digital process automation can help reduce the time and effort needed to complete routine ‘low-skill’ tasks that are part of the accreditation process by using tools to eliminate human intervention.³

2. Some applications you can use include: Microsoft Power Automate, Kissflow, and Pega Flow while tools include digital forms, email, Power Apps, and Macros in Excel and Word
   • These applications and tools can be used to forward and sort mail, send automatic replies, attach documents to emails, automate a document’s workflow, save documents to network folders, be alerted when documents have been completed, and provide conditional alerts based on triggers.³

3. Resources on how to use these tools can be found on YouTube.³

Beyond the didactics, the breakout sessions provided time for accredited providers to discuss their reactions to the presentations, as well as specific information regarding plans for implementation in their own work and barriers they may face. During a few of these breakouts, I heard attendees comment on how grateful they were for the opportunity to speak with colleagues about day-to-day challenges they face. To me, these remarks echoed what we know to be true about  our own regular SACME coffee chats and reinforced the idea that, in our field, we seek out and appreciate support and knowledge from others. Overall, the program provided a good opportunity to access materials from the annual meeting while networking with colleagues in a virtual format. The didactic content was very short, so it felt more like a trailer for the full presentations which are available asynchronously, but a few pearls and reminders were still available to take away.

The registration for this meeting included access to the resources and recordings made available from the annual meeting, and the format seemed to be designed as a reminder to drive you back to the full content rather than provide an introduction to new information. In my opinion, the registration fee for this meeting was modest at only $50 for accredited providers.  It  offered a welcome perk consisting of access to those earlier conference materials which could be especially valuable for those who did not attend the annual meeting. Additionally, for those who did attend in May, it provided an opportunity to review sessions attended and hear an introduction to any missed sessions.

References

1. Al-Sheikhly D, Mattar L, Navti P. Facing Your Fears: Tips and Tools to Start your CE Research Journey. Session presented at Learn to Thrive Plus; October 24, 2023; Virtual.
2. Aspaas L, Schneider L. Any CE Provider Can Pursue Commendation: It’s All in the Planning. Session presented at Learn to Thrive Plus; October 24, 2023; Virtual.
3. Innocent K. Automation Tools that Simplify Planning and Maximize Compliance. Session presented at Learn to Thrive Plus; October 24, 2023; Virtu