5 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Continuing Medical Education!

With increasing pressure on operating budgets, CME managers in many pharmaceutical companies are being asked if still makes sense to invest in continuing medical educational programs.

​In short, the answer is “YES”.  Here are five important reasons why sponsoring accredited continuing medical education programs is still a good business decision.
​

1. Underdiagnosed/Undertreated Diseases 
   Research shows family physicians are often not up-to-date on best medical practices and recent changes to clinical practice guidelines. Investing in continuing medical education continues to be an effective way for pharma companies to enhance physician awareness of the important clinical signs and symptoms associated with various diseases. It can also encourage more aggressive  screening and identification of individual patients with a particular health problem, thereby resulting in earlier treatment.
   
   
2. New Drug Product Introductions
   Industry studies show that it’s critical to establish the clinical value of new drug products and medical devices with the medical community (within the first 3 to 4 months) following its launch. However, with the increasing challenge of limited physician access and reduced face-to-face detailing time, sales reps are no longer the best way to do this. Continuing medical education is clearly the most effective way to disseminate new information to family physicians on a new drug product, especially how it differs from conventional treatments and might be of therapeutic benefit to particular patients.
   
   
3. Overcoming Barriers to Practice Change
   Many family physicians are very conservative in their thinking, and reluctant to change how they manage their patients. As a result, this means they are often resistant to accepting and implementing changes to practice guidelines and new approaches for better managing their patients. However, when done properly, continuing medical education not only addresses important information gaps related to their current level of disease knowledge, but it is also an effective way to change clinical decision making and practice behaviour.
   
   
4. Patient Adherence/Compliance
   Many family physicians acknowledge that their patients often fail to take their medication properly to obtain the best therapeutic results. A major opportunity exists for pharma companies to leverage continuing medical education to help family physicians achieve more effective use of their drug products with their patients and better clinical outcomes. At the same time, focusing on this problem can also help ensure more correct use of the company’s drug products and avoid inappropriate and/or off-label prescribing.
   
   
5. Company Image/Customer Relationships
   ​Finally, when a pharma company invests in continuing medical education, this helps to further position them as being a major player in that disease area, and reinforce their role as a valued partner in helping family physicians to better manage their patients. And, as an added bonus, it can open doors for the company’s sales reps with important customers, and help maintain their support for the company’s products.

 
As a leading academic physician organization with expertise in developing innovative approaches to physician education, we believe strongly that investing in continuing medical education should remain a cornerstone activity and commitment of the pharmaceutical industry.
 
However, the key is doing it right, and working with a physician organization that really knows how to do this is critical for success.
 
For a briefing on how we can help you to take your CME/CPD programs to a higher level, and get the most from your educational investment, please contact us.