Why Docs Do CME

As for the primary reasons they participate in CME activities, it probably will come as no surprise that the top reason, chosen by 93 percent of respondents, is to obtain CME credit or fulfill licensure and other requirements. The next two top choices are to obtain the latest clinical data, selected by 80 percent of respondents, and to validate their current patient treatment/management strategies, picked by 71 percent of respondents. (Respondents picked multiple answers.)

Getting the latest information is more important to women than to men; 85 percent of the female docs, as compared to 78 percent of the males, picked that answer. Networking is also more important to female docs, chosen by 27 percent of the women, compared to 19 percent of the men and 21 percent of the total group.

Credit Dive

A possible red flag is that respondents earned an average of 48 CME credits in the 12 months prior to the survey, down from the average of 57 credits reported in last year's study. In addition, 24 percent of respondents said they earned fewer credits than in past years. This is a higher percentage than in last year's survey (when 17 percent of docs said they earned fewer credits than in the past) and the survey two years ago (when 19 percent said they earned fewer credits).

Time pressures are the biggest reason for the decline, with more than half of respondents, 55 percent, saying they were too busy to take time away from their practice, while 35 percent said it was too costly to leave their practices. The other two choices, “certified activities did not meet my needs,” and “employer restrictions on attendance/reimbursement,” were both chosen by 14 percent of respondents. (Respondents picked multiple answers.)

Meetings Rule!

Despite time pressures, physician respondents earned 41 percent of their credits during the 12 months prior to completing the survey by attending out-of-town meetings — a big jump from last year's 32 percent. The next-most-popular choice was “attending local meetings,” with physicians earning 19 percent of their credits through that method, down from 24 percent last year. They logged 17 percent of their credits through reading journals, the same percentage as last year, and the third-most-favored method.

The percentage of credits earned through performance improvement activities dipped: In this year's survey, docs said they earned fewer than 1 percent of their credits through performance improvement activities, compared to 3 percent in last year's survey. While 17 percent of respondents said they plan to use performance improvement activities in the 12 months following completion of the survey, that's actually a lower figure than in last year's survey, when 19 percent said they planned to use it.

e-CME Expands

Docs earned 11 percent of their credits through online CME, up from 7 percent last year. For the second year, we asked docs what online CME methods they used, and about 44 percent of respondents answered the question. Internet point-of-care (online self-directed learning) was the most popular, chosen by 64 percent of those respondents, compared to 62 percent last year.

Internet point-of-care is poised to increase even more in the near future, as 46 percent of doctors said they plan to use that method in the next 12 months, compared to 26 percent who answered in the affirmative in last year's survey. As we saw last year, the female respondents are more likely than the males to try POC; 50 percent of the women, compared to 44 percent of the men plan to use Internet point-of-care in the coming year. It appears to be most popular with the younger docs: 63 percent say they plan to participate in POC, compared to 55 percent of the 45-to-55s and only 24 percent of the older-than-55s.

After Internet POC, the next-most-popular e-CME method was “enduring Internet activities (i.e., pre-recorded presentation),” with respondents clocking 25 percent of their online credits via that method, up from 21 percent last year. Doctors were much less likely to use MP3casts/podcasts, logging fewer than 1 percent of their credits through that method, down from 5 percent last year. However, they earned about 7 percent of their credits through live Internet activities such as webcasts, up from 5 percent last year.

The Lure of Locale

As to how they choose whether to attend those popular out-of-town meetings, as usual, “geographic location” topped the list, coming in with a mean score of 4.6, where 1 equaled not at all important and 6 equaled extremely important. Location was followed by “meeting dates” with a 4.5 rating. In third place, “availability of education (cannot find local equivalent),” and “meeting length (days away from home/work),” tied with a 4.4 ranking.

There was also a tie for fourth place: “Need/desire for continuing education credits,” and “CME provider's reputation” both came in next with a 4.3 rating, followed by “meeting registration fee” and “speaker reputation,” both scoring 4.2. “Miscellaneous costs (travel, food, and lodging),” came in 6th with a 4.1 ranking; “ability to tie meeting attendance to family vacation” scored 3.7. “Opportunity to consult with colleagues about patient care problems” ranked 3.5. In last place, “employer requires attendance” scored 2.1.

The most popular venue was conference centers, chosen by 55 percent of respondents, followed by hotels (52 percent), and resorts (49 percent). (Respondents picked multiple answers.) Twenty-seven percent picked restaurants, 20 percent hospitals, 18 percent cruises, 15 percent medical center/facilities, and 13 percent universities.

California, Florida, and New York retained their position as the three most-preferred states for meetings. Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington state also made the top 10.

More than half, 51 percent, of respondents said they would be willing to visit a foreign country to obtain CME credits. As in previous years, favorite destinations included Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and European countries, particularly England and France. Docs also mentioned Asia, particularly China; Greece; and Australia.

Love Those Lectures

When it comes to delivery formats at meetings, docs say that lectures with Q&A sessions are the most effective in motivating them to change their behavior. On a 6-point scale with 1 representing not at all effective and 6 representing extremely effective, docs gave lectures with Q&A sessions a mean rating of 5, placing it first out of eight choices. However, some interactivity does appear to be important to doctors, as lectures without a Q&A session came in next-to-last, with a 3.4 rating. While CME providers aiming to measure outcomes often include pre-and post-session tests with lectures, this method is not that appealing to respondents, who gave it a mean rating of 3.6, putting it in 6th place.

Case-based learning came in second, with hands-on, skill-building sessions coming in third. Not surprisingly for a group that prefers the formality of lectures, “unstructured discussions about topic” came in last, with a mean rating of 3.0

More On/MEETINGSNET.COM

This year's survey consisted of 23 questions. Responses to all of these were cross-tabulated by gender, age, and by number of out-of-town meetings respondents attended in the previous 12 months. To purchase the full report, visit The Research Store at meetingsnet.com.

Survey Snapshot

More than two-thirds of respondents, 67 percent, are male. The average age of respondents is 51. Respondents have been in the medical field an average of 22 years.