I could not agree more with Lawrence Sherman (“Houston, We Have a Problem,” March/April 2008). I have now been in CME for 14 months. My biggest challenge is showing the value of CME as a tool to create physician change, implementing Joint Commission Core Measures, and cutting down the number of our grand rounds (30 activities per month!). I can't continue as a one-person department, planning more than 300 activities per year, plus implementing the new quality-improvement and performance-improvement initiatives. In my city, we have a total of seven CME professionals. That's it. I've tried to collaborate with them but we all have different systems to change, and I feel a more global view from all the other CME providers would be helpful.

A key is to not just get together once a year, say, “Oh, no,” and go back to the old way of doing things because it's easier. The Alliance for CME listserv is excellent, but if there were monthly conference calls, or e-mails, or a more frequent way to facilitate wide discussions on these individual issues, it would be so valuable.

My suggestion is that any new forms, strategies, partnering, etc., be posted on a Web site, such as the Alliance for CME's, under each specialty section. As people find “cures” for our new guideline woes, we should share them, including our outcomes to prove that they're working, of course. Journal articles take forever. We need a quick resource for brainstorming improvements.
Hospital-based CME provider
Name withheld upon request

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Related article:
Houston, We Have a Problem