Essential Area 2: Educational Planning and
Evaluation
Element 2.2
Use needs assessment data to plan CME
activities.
Identifying the needs of learners requires
innovative thought and ideas that will be appropriate for a given
setting. As always, the overriding goal is to support physicians as they
seek to provide the highest quality care possible. CME is one part of
that continued professional development.
The MMS does not mandate any specific kind of
needs assessment, but requires a provider to use several sources. Many
providers choose a staff survey, as one of their sources for identifying
needs. In some cases, the survey yields excellent suggestions from a
broad representation of staff. In other cases, it is difficult to obtain
more than a handful of responses, making the feedback not helpful. Many
other options are possible. Adding expertise to the committee, gathering
input from other committees, holding focus groups to obtain staff or
membership input, surveying the literature, summarizing quality
assurance data are a few ways to identify unmet educational needs. Some
of the experts who may be able to provide important information include
those individuals on quality assurance committees, pharmacy and
therapeutics committees, and risk managers. Optimal needs assessment
includes gathering information from more than one source. The staff at
MMS can point to a number of articles and books about needs assessment
that may be helpful for those who are interested.
Drawing information from several sources will
improve the way we think about delineating learning needs. Using the CME
Committee to prioritize those needs, or asking a small group of
physicians for their input may be helpful. Because there are an
unlimited number of topics to address in a very limited time, it is
helpful to have a way to think about the relative importance of ideas
and topics. Of course, flexibility is important if new ideas emerge or
if priorities change due to circumstance.
In addition, the number and variety of CME
activities offered by a provider should appropriately reflect the
audience’s needs and demographics.
Next Page: Element 2.3
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