Jason Olivieri asks an interesting question on the AssessCME blog: Why are there seven levels of CME outcomes if we only care about physician performance and patient health change?
I don't know why, but somehow over the past few days at the CME Congress I have found myself several times saying things along the lines of, but there's still a need to pass along knowledge, even if it doesn't result in behavior change. And I do believe there is, because that's where behavior change starts—you can't do better if you don't know better. But, of course, just because you know better doesn't mean you will do better. There are further steps you usually have to take, and all kinds of reasons (both within and without your control) that can prevent you from making that change.
Behavior change usually is a multi-step process, but you do have to start somewhere, and often that somewhere is learning, even if it doesn't immediately lead to anything else. I don't think anyone struggles with that. It's keeping the process moving so learning does eventually become action that can be difficult, right?
