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Friday, May 28, 2010

Free Patient Safety CME on Preventing VTE thru 9/1/10

Preventing VTE in Total Knee and Hip Arthroplasty Patients
Upon completion of this educational activity, the participant should be able to:
1.
Review guidelines, consensus standards, and requirements for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients.
2.
Evaluate how to apply the latest clinical practice guidelines on the prevention of VTE for patients who undergo THA and TKA.
3.
Assess the safety and efficacy of existing and emerging anticoagulants for the prevention of VTE.
4.
Discuss how emerging oral anticoagulants may impact the prevention of VTE in THA and TKA patients.

This activity is supported through an educational grant from Ortho-McNeil Inc.



Free CME on Helping Patients Quit Smoking thru 6/22/11


Helping Patients Quit Smoking

Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this program, participants should be able to:

  • Review the physiological, behavioral, and genetic elements of tobacco addiction.
  • Describe the adverse effects of smoking and nicotine, including related health risks.
  • Identify new elements in the 2008 update to the US Public Health Service's national clinical practice guideline for smoking cessation. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence.
  • Explain the role of pharmacotherapy in helping patients quit.
  • Describe counseling strategies of physicians and other healthcare professional to promote quitting smoking in patients.

Free CME Series on Field Epidemiology

FOCUS on Field Epidemiology

The North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness is offering a series of free CME modules on outbreak investigations, laboratory diagnosis and methods, and public health surveillance.

Virtual Lipid Preceptorship: Free CME


Virtual Lipid Preceptorship

The Virtual Lipid Preceptorship (VLP) is a series of three continuous quality improvement modules offering free self-study CME activities for clinicians who wish to improve the quality of healthcare delivery to patients at risk for coronary heart disease.

Throughout these modules, CME participants will conduct simple exercises in their practice to:

  • assess their current performance;
  • identify opportunities for improvement; and
  • implement quality improvement (PDCA) cycles.
The Virtual Lipid Preceptorship has been supported by unrestricted educational grants from Merck/Schering-Plough.

Free CME on Comparative Effectiveness thru 8/31/10

Comparative Effectiveness: The Impact on Managed Care and Outcomes

The National Association of Managed Care Physicians is offering free CME thru 8/31/10 on comparative effectiveness.

Goals:
  • Define comparative effectiveness

  • Identify the role of the AHRQ and the Institute of Medicine in determining comparative/clinical effectiveness

  • Discuss how clinical effectiveness studies can be implemented and disseminated

  • Recognize the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations for priorities in clinical effectiveness reviews

  • Describe the role of comparative effectiveness in managing a patient population

  • Recognize appropriate stakeholders in comparative effectiveness research

  • Interpret the impact of comparative effectiveness on managed care

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Genentech

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Free CME on Treating OCD in Primary Care from Medscape

Best Practices for Treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Primary Care Setting
Valid for credit through 08/24/2010



Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:


Describe the presentation, prevalence, natural history,

and diagnostic criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder.


Identify treatment options for obsessive-compulsive disorder.


Credits Available
Physicians - maximum of 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
Family Physicians - maximum of 0.25 AAFP Prescribed credit(s)

Free CME on ECT from Medscape thru 7/31/10

ECT Plus Antidepressant Study Challenges Current Practice
Valid for credit through 07/31/2010

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

Describe the effect of concomitant treatment with nortriptyline or venlafaxine (vs placebo) during the course of electroconvulsive therapy on short-term efficacy, rate of relapse after electroconvulsive therapy, and adverse effects.

Compare the efficacy and safety of high-dose, right-sided unilateral electroconvulsive therapy vs those of moderate-dose bilateral electroconvulsive therapy.

Credits Available
Physicians - maximum of 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
Family Physicians - maximum of 0.25 AAFP Prescribed credit(s)

Friday, May 21, 2010

Free CME on Terrorism and Preparedness

Terrorism, Preparedness and Public Health
Earn 6.0 free credit hours.

After completing of this course, the learner will be able to:

  • Describe the public health role in emergency response to a range of emergencies.
  • Recognize unusual events that might indicate an emergency.
  • Describe appropriate reactions to biological, chemical, and radiological events.
  • Describe how the science of epidemiology is used in outbreak investigations.
  • Defend the use of a predefined organizational structure (e.g., the Incident Command System) to assist in managing emergency events.

This course was created by Robert Wesphal, MD, MPH, Director of the University at Albany Center for Public Health Preparedness.

Free CME on Patient Records thru 5/1/11

Patient Records Legal Primer
Here's What You Need To Know About Keeping, Transferring, And Destroying Patient Records


After completing this activity, participants should be able to:

  • Apply state and federal guidelines for releasing medical records to third parties
  • Explain HIPAA's position on charging patients for copying medical records
  • Create a written policy that covers medical record retention, disclosure, and security for their practice
Sponsored by

CMELLC LogoPhysicians Practice Logo

Free CME on Managing Risk in Patients with RA thru 4/29/11

Managing Risk in Patients with RA: Focus on Demyelinating Conditions

Earn 1.0 credit through the Cleveland Clinic.

On completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
  1. Assess the risk for developing a demyelinating condition when a patient is receiving treatment for inflammatory arthritis.
  2. Describe the presentation of demyelinating disease in a patient being treated for RA.
  3. Discuss specific demyelinating disorders reported in patients receiving an immunosuppressant for inflammatory arthritis.

This activity is supported by an educational donation provided by Amgen.
This activity is supported by an educational grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
This activity is supported by an educational grant from Centocor Ortho Biotech Services.
This activity is supported by an independent educational grant from Roche Laboratories, Inc.

Free CME on Helping Patients who Drink Too Much


The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is offering Video Cases about helping patients who drink too much, with free CME through Medscape.

  • Four interactive, 10-minute video cases
  • Evidence-based clinical strategies
  • Patients with different levels of severity and readiness to change
  • Free CME/CE credits for physicians (AAFP approved) and nurses through Medscape®

PsychSolve: Mental Health Problem Solver from New Harbinger Press


PsychSolve is published by New Harbinger Press and is written by Jeffrey C. Wood, Psy.D.,a licensed psychologist and author of Getting Help.
Info is aimed at patients, with brief entries about diagnosis, cause, and treatment on topics such as:
  1. Common problems such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, phobias, trauma, drug and alcohol problems, low self-esteem, and stress
  2. Relationship problems
  3. Eating disorders
  4. Chronic pain issues

Rheumatology Image Bank


The American College of Rheumatology has created an online collection of rheumatology-related images. Serving as a centralized resource for clinicians, researchers and health care professionals, the Rheumatology Image Bank provides assistance in self-study. Excel your knowledge by exploring more than 1,500 images of rheumatic diseases ranging from common conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and gout to rare conditions including multicentric reticulohistiocytosis, relapsing polychondritis and the various heritable disorders of the connective tissue.

Hotline for Information about Exposures During Pregnancy and Lactation: OTIS

OTIS: Organization of Teratology Information Specialists

OTIS, the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists, is a non-profit organization made up of individual services (TIS) throughout North America. They are dedicated to providing accurate evidence-based, clinical information to patients and health care professionals about exposures during pregnancy and lactation. Resources also available in Spanish.

National Referral Number 1-866-626-6847

Fact Sheets

Friday, May 7, 2010

Free CME on Preventing Opioid Diversion thru 5-1-11


Stemming the Tide of Opioid Abuse & Diversion

  • Compare and contrast emerging technologies for the deterrence of opioid abuse
  • Assess the effectiveness of abuse-deterrent formulations to control pain and potential impact on abuse
  • Assess patient safety profiles, legal and regulatory implications of current and emerging opioid therapy
  • Improve overall patient outcomes through better identification of those likely to abuse or divert opioids
There is no fee for this activity as it is sponsored by PRIME® through an independent educational grant from King Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Free CME on Risk Assessment and Communication thru June 27, 2011


Risk Assessment and Communication


At the conclusion of this program, participants should be able to:
  • Discuss how the FDA uses risk information to evaluate and approve new medications.
  • Describe ways in which patients use risk information to make decisions.
  • Explain basic biostatistical concepts including absolute risk, relative risk, attributable risk, odds ratios, and number needed to treat.
  • Offer simplified numeric and non-numeric ways of describing risk, including methods appropriate to patients with low health literacy and low numeracy.
  • Describe methods to verify that patients understand risk information.

Documentary: Chasing Zero: Winning the War on Healthcare Harm

Chasing Zero: Winning The War On Healthcare Harm

A near fatal medical error almost cost the lives of twins, born to actor Dennis Quaid and his wife. This real-life event inspires a new patient education documentary featuring the Quaid family's personal ordeal, along with stories of other families who faced medical errors. Also meet experts who are leading efforts to help dedicated healthcare providers reduce medical errors and improve patient safety outcomes.