The Value and Success of Live Plus Online Enduring CME/CE on Hematology/Oncology Specialists' Ability to Care for Patients with Hematologic Disorders
Authors: Worst Michelle A. , Friedman Heather P. , Bomba Sarah E. , Whitney Megan , Middleton Deborah , Mikhael Emily , Kadkhoda Haleh , Zhang Cong , Podoltsev Nikolai A. 
Published: December 2023

Background: As translational and clinical research across the continuum of classical and malignant hematology continues to accelerate at an unprecedented pace, hematologist/oncologists (hem/oncs) may find it challenging to stay up to date on new discoveries and constantly evolving standards of care. The ASH Annual Meeting offers an unparalleled opportunity to present live continuing medical education (CME/CE) activities to a broad cross-section of this clinician population. The reach of these programs is multiplied by converting recordings into accredited online CME activities available to interprofessional clinician audiences for on-demand learning. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of 9 live plus enduring symposia at ASH 2022 on hem/oncs' knowledge, competence, and confidence in providing comprehensive care for patients with hematologic disorders.

Methods: The Medscape Education/Medscape Oncology educational portfolio at the 64 th ASH Annual Meeting consisted of nine 90-minute CME-accredited Friday Satellite Symposia presented live on December 9, 2022, and posted online within 3 weeks as CME-accredited enduring activities consisting of multimedia recordings with synchronized slides. Four of the enduring programs also offered nursing and/or pharmacy continuing education credit. Symposium topics included 2 programs on classical hematologic disorders, 3 on lymphoid malignancies, 3 on myeloid malignancies, and 1 addressing health equity across all hematologic malignancies developed in collaboration with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Educational impact was measured with pre-/post-education assessments including multiple-choice knowledge/competence questions and 5-point Likert scale confidence questions. Data from all hem/onc learners who completed pre- and/or post-education assessments were aggregated across activities and stratified by learning themes. Relative changes in the percentage of correct responses and clinicians who were confident (value of 4 or 5) were used to measure improvement in knowledge, competence, and confidence. A McNemar test assessed significant levels of changes reported, with P values &lt; .05 considered statistically significant. Data were collected through July 31, 2023.

Results: The educational portfolio demonstrated a profound reach to 76,647 learners at the time of data cutoff (3361 live learners plus 73,286 enduring learners). Among them, 6821 were hem/onc learners, with other learners comprising additional physician specialties and interprofessional team members (eg, nurses, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists). In each learning theme, statistically significant improvements were observed in hem/oncs' knowledge, competence, and confidence after education (N = 161 to 640).

Conclusions: Participation in live or recorded CME/CE-accredited activities presented at the ASH Annual Meeting resulted in statistically significant improvements in hem/onc learners' knowledge, competence, and confidence related to the comprehensive care of patients with a variety of hematologic disorders. These results have the ability to translate to real-world improvements in clinical care and to enhance patient outcomes and experiences. Despite these achievements, continued educational activities are needed to address residual gaps and further increase clinicians' ability in this dynamic clinical setting.