New Research into HCP views on European CME

Nov. 26, 2012 - PRLog -- According To New Research, Doctors Want More Online Continuing Medical Education (CME) And They Don’t Care Who Funds It

London, United Kingdom, November 26th 2012 –

A new study by EPG Health Media (Europe) Ltd provides insight into the views and behaviour of healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Europe on the topic of Continuing Medical Education (CME).  Launched at the 5th Annual European Continuing Medical Education Forum in London earlier this month, the report provides data to support on-going industry discussions concerning the funding, accreditation, format and credibility of CME.

Shedding light on the growing demand for online CME in Europe, HCP respondents to the survey reported a 50% increase in web-based CME over the past 2 years and a 30% drop in participation of international conferences. Greater convenience and lower cost were cited as the primary reasons for this shift.  

The study indicates that, despite obvious growth, the demand for online CME is not keeping pace with physician demand.  While 94% of respondents indicated that they would like to participate in more online CME, 30% claimed that ‘lack of availability’ prevents them from doing so.

Challenges regulatory discussion on the topic of pharmaceutical industry funding of CME, just 16% of healthcare professionals who took part in the study ‘disagreed’ that Pharmaceutical companies should fund more CME. And on the topic of access, the study highlights difficulties faced by Europe doctors in assessing whether credits earned for CME activities are valid within their country of practice; with 51% of survey respondents acknowledging this as a problem.

‘The study sheds some much needed light on current discussions involving CME in Europe’ said Chris Cooper, EPG Health Media ‘We hope it will support those organisations involved in creating, funding, accrediting and (like ourselves) publishing CME in Europe.’

The report, entitled ‘The European CME landscape: Healthcare Professionals’ participation, views and preferences’ is based on the responses of 180 healthcare professionals in Europe to survey containing a 30 questions. It is now available to download for free at www.epghealthmedia.com/industry-reports.

EPG Health Media (Europe) Ltd, based Tunbridge Wells UK, is an independent publisher and aggregator of online medical information. Since 2000, it has operated www.epgonline.org, the professional channel for doctors, which provides free access to 110,000 pages of online medical content. It also provides the healthcare industry with targeted access to over 350,000 opted-in healthcare professionals in Europe.

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