Online medical educational activities may improve clinician competence and confidence in managing pulmonary arterial hypertension
Presenter: Margaret Harris, PhD, Director, Clinical Strategy, Medscape, Atlanta, GA
Cardiologists and pulmonologists who participated in an online continuing medical education activity demonstrated significant improvements related to optimal treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension; however, further education is needed on therapeutic decision-making and interprofessional collaboration.
Educational activities that focus on gaps in treatment selection and utilization may improve the competence and confidence of physicians who treat patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), according to results of a study presented at CHEST 2024.
Gains in competence related to PAH treatment were seen in 42% of 97 cardiologists and 34% of 32 pulmonologists after participating in education specific to that topic area, according to authors of the study.
Furthermore, 51% of the cardiologists and 31% of thepulmonologists had measurable increases in confidence in selecting PAH treatment after participating in the continuing medical education (CME) activity, the authors reported in a poster presentation.
Altogether, the findings highlight the significant impact of CME on improving clinician competence and confidence in evidence-based treatment of PAH, according to Margaret Harris, PhD, lead author of the study.
“Given that increased competence and confidence are linked to behavior change in clinical practice, these findings suggest the potential for real-world improvements in patient care,” Harris said in an interview.
Despite significant advances in PAH treatment, clinical practice gaps related to treatment selection and underutilization of combination therapy leave many patients with burdensome symptoms and reduced quality of life, according to Harris and study co-authors. Accordingly, they sought to determine whether online CME could improve the competence and confidence of cardiologists and pulmonologists in treating patients with PAH.
The online educational intervention, which was released in June 2023, consisted of a 15-minute video discussion featuring 2 experts in PAH.
The impact of the education was assessed using a repeated-pair design, meaning that learners answered a set of 4 questions before and after the activity. The set included 3 multiple-choice questions: 1 question about selecting treatment for a high-risk patient, 1 question about ongoing management of an intermediate-risk patient, and the third question regarding treatment selection for a low-risk patient.
In aggregate, the cardiologists answered 42% of the multiple-choice questions correctly before the activity, compared with 56% afterward (P < .001), according to results reported in the poster presentation. Similarly, the pulmonologists correctly answered 54% of the multiple-choice questions before the activity, which increased to 67% afterward (P < .001).
In the fourth question, participants rated their confidence in collaborating with an interprofessional team to improve PAH treatment selection and help patients achieve low-risk status, on a scale of 1 (not confident) to 5 (very confident). The proportion of the cardiologists rating their confidence at 3 or higher increased from 38% before the activity to 62% after; for the pulmonologists it increased from 44% before to 57% after.
The analysis also identified key topics for subsequent educational activities, according to the study authors.
Based on post-activity responses to the second multiple-choice question, more than half of the cardiologists and pulmonologists demonstrated a need for additional education on treatment selection for patients with PAH in the intermediate-risk category, authors said.
Also in the post-activity responses, 38% of the cardiologists and 43% of the pulmonologists still rated themselves as not confident or only slightly confident in collaborating with an interprofessional team to improve treatment selection for patients with PAH.
“While we observed improvements in clinician competence and confidence, gaps remain in treatment selection and decision-making,” Harris said in the interview. “These gaps will guide future CME initiatives and research aimed at addressing these areas, with the goal of further enhancing PAH patient care.”
Disclosures:
The authors reported educational grant support from Actelion, a Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson and Johnson; Bayer; Merck and Co., Inc.; and United Therapeutics Corp.