A New Way to Claim CME with Read by QxMD’s Latest Upgrade
We know continuing medical education is crucial, so what’s stopping us?
The importance and impact of CME is well recognised and well studied. Thirty-nine systematic reviews between 1977 and 2015 showed that CME is effective in increasing HCP’s knowledge, changing HCP’s behavior, and to a lesser extent, improving patient outcomes.¹ Today, the importance feels even more pronounced, given the ever-increasing speed at which treatment recommendations change and evolve. It is estimated that the doubling time of medical knowledge in 1950 was 50 years; in 1980, 7 years; in 2010, 3.5 years and in 2020 just 73 days!²
Despite HCP’s commitment to lifelong learning, other factors can make it a challenge in reality. One recent study from the BMC surveyed 500 US physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants to establish the biggest barriers to taking part in CME activities. Unsurprisingly, the top barriers identified were expense and travel time. The survey participants also proposed actions that would help tackle these barriers, shown in the table below.³
Our own user research echoes these findings. Users conveyed that the ability to earn CME credit for the learning they’re already engaging in through Read would be a significant enhancement, one user said: “Sometimes online learning courses can be a little long … to earn CME credit for articles that I’m already reading for my own practice, I would definitely utilize that.”
If you’re struggling to find the time or funding for CME, Read by QxMD’s latest upgrade could be the answer.
With those findings in mind, we are excited to introduce our latest upgrade that allows you to claim CME for the papers you discover through Read by QxMD. Simply search within our app, which is updated in real time with all content from PubMed and additional sources, discover research relevant to your practice and claim CME credits for it. Our hope is that this unique offering will give HCPs struggling with the barriers identified a viable alternative.
- Reduce cost — the app itself is completely free and our technology helps locate open access articles and links with your institution so you can access paywalled papers.
- Optimize location, allow flexibility and accessibility — our app is available on web, android and iOS. Which means users can easily access it anywhere, anytime at their convenience.
Created to supplement, not replace your existing CME activities
Studies indicate that interactive, practice-based, in-person activities are the most impactful.⁴,⁵ For this reason, QxMD’s new offering isn’t intended to replace existing CME activities. Rather, it provides a flexible, convenient, cost-free supplement that can be done alongside existing CME activities to allow for a multimodal learning approach. Hence, we are providing the opportunity to claim up to 20 category 1 credits a year with Read by QxMD.
Read by QxMD provides HCPs with one place to discover relevant research, claim CME and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Download the free app and start earning CME today.
References
- https://journals.lww.com/jcehp/Abstract/2015/35020/The_Impact_of_CME_on_Physician_Performance_and.8.aspx
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116346/
- https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-021-02595-x
- https://journals.lww.com/jcehp/Citation/2015/35001/CME_Effectiveness__Utilizing_Outcomes_Assessments.12.aspx
- https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-021-00613-z
