UAB Synopsis, Vol. 27, No. 17, May 5, 2008
UAB’s Division of Continuing Medical Education (CME) Alabama Practice-based CME Network (APBN) facilitates physician practice improvement and maintenance of competence to improve health outcomes in complex adult patients. The practice-based organization incorporates input from health care professionals to recognize and respond to needs of community physicians and School of Medicine (SOM) at Birmingham faculty.
“It places a large array of practice-enriching materials developed by expert teams at the disposal of practicing physicians,” says Jeroan J. Allison, MD, MS, assistant dean and director of the Division of CME.
The Alabama network includes 574 physicians, physicians assistants, and nurses in primary care specialties. A Mississippi arm has more than 200 members. Interventions occur through dissemination of educational information and CME materials, participation in research projects, and needs-assessment support.
The APBN provides members with evidence-based educational content and practice management and self-assessment tools. Educational materials and resources pertain to complex adult patients with multiple comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, and community-acquired illnesses such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
Information Exchanges
Members receive a subscription to The Medical Letter and patient education materials. Literature searches and article delivery also are available. Information exchange occurs through the Web site and Forum, a monthly newsletter, and surveys. APBN membership is free to participating physicians.
The network addresses individual and aggregate concerns to develop timely information responsive to practice issues. CME offerings are tailored to needs expressed by individual physicians and focus on the care of complex patients.
Clinical Research in Daily Practice
The network contributes to community collaborations and grant projects and is a vehicle that ushers clinical research into daily practice. It provides a target audience for dissemination of educational interventions undergoing study and assists SOM researchers in recruiting participants for their research projects. “Investigators can access a sample of physicians interested in participating in educational needs assessment and in self-reflection on practice,” says Katie Crenshaw, JD, MSEd, assistant director of the Division of CME.
The network affords opportunities for physicians to reflect on their practice of medicine and to improve their patient-care and practice management skills by participating in federally sponsored research. Physicians can tap into a broad group of peers who are likewise working for excellence in patient care.
The APBN partners with the AQAF (formerly, Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation) to determine the best way to help physicians improve patient health outcomes, supporting AQAF efforts to enhance physician performance on process level health indicators such as diabetes care and mammography screening.
APBN registration and resources are available online at www.alabamacme.uab.edu.
