From the Alliance for CME Connection:

Effective November 30th, national and state accredited providers no longer need to submit the “International Activity Request Form” to receive approval for providing AMA PRA Category 1 Credit to physicians not licensed in the United States. This policy change, approved by the AMA’s Council on Medical Education, allows accredited providers to award Category 1 credit to domestic and international physicians without additional designation language on promotional materials or certificates. The new AMA PRA booklet, scheduled for publication in early 2006, will reflect this change.



For more information, please contact Rebecca DeVivo or Marilyn Maldonado.

Recommended reading from Anne Taylor-Vaisey:J Bioeth Inq. 2005;2(2):75-81.

Banning all drug promotion is the best option pending major reforms.

Mansfield PR. Department of General Practice, University of Adelaide, Australia.

Drug promotion should be evaluated according to its impact on health, access to information, informed consent, and wealth. Drug promotion currently does more harm than good to each of these objectives because it is usually misleading. This is a systemic problem. Whilst improved regulation and education will address it to some degree, major reforms to payment systems for drug companies and doctors are also required. Until all these systemic reforms can be put in place, the best policy option is to ban the promotion of drugs to doctors and the public. Consequently, pending major reforms, it is appropriate for governments to restrict drug promotion as much as is politically achievable.

PMID: 16317866 [PubMed - in process]

Imagine a faculty member singing, to the tune of the Archies’ golden oldie “Sugar Sugar,” these lyrics: “Glucose, ah sugar sugar. You are my favorite fuel from the bloodborne substrate pool / Glucose — monosaccharide sugar — you’re sweeter than a woman’s kiss / ’cause I need you for glycolysis.” That’s how University of Washington lecturer Greg Crowther gets his points across, according to Wired. And he has lots more songs in his repertoire, including “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Chemists,” and “Take Me to the Liver.”

Can’t imagine this flying for a CME activity, but it’s too weird not to mention. Happy Friday!

This post courtesy of Anne Taylor-Vaisey:

163153911: Ethn Dis. 2005 Autumn;15(4 Suppl 5):S5-124-7.

The Community Physicians’ Network (CPN): an academic-community partnership to eliminate healthcare disparities.

Ofili E, Igho-Pemu P, Lapu-Bula R, Quarshie A, Obialo C, Thomas C, Onwanyi A, Oduwole A, Ojutalayo F, Johnson P, Murphy F, Mayberry R, Strayhorn G.

Clinical Research Center, Department of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA.

INTRODUCTION: Disparities in health care are maintained by three primary factors: 1) patient factors which include multiple risk factors and comorbidities; 2) healthcare practitioner factors comprising inconsistent application of practice guidelines due to a limited database of clinical trials of effective therapies in African Americans and other underrepresented minorities; and 3) barriers in the healthcare delivery system resulting in poor access to care. The Morehouse School of Medicine Community Physicians’ Network (CPN) was established to address disparities in health care by focusing on provider-specific strategies.

OBJECTIVES: To: 1) use disease-specific registries to identify treatment gaps and facilitate quality improvement processes among CPN practices; 2) develop practice-specific and guideline-based educational messages to promote quality care; 3) engage and train CPN-physicians for participation in approved NIH, other government, and industry-supported clinical protocols; and 4) develop a data repository of all CPN-sponsored clinical trials that include significant numbers of African Americans and other underrepresented minorities.

METHODS: The disease-specific outpatient registries will have the following features: 1) data structures and data elements will use standard database codes and a data dictionary; 2) HIPPA-compliant data abstraction and data transfer tool; 3) baseline chart review to establish practice patterns and provide practice-specific feedback; 4) annual update of registry; 5) data registry and repository maintained on Morehouse School of Medicine’s secure servers; 6) registry publications will include only aggregate data, without identification of contributing practices; 7) an electronic medical records platform will be encouraged as the ultimate data management tool for CPN practices. In addition, up to three continuing medical education (CME) programs each year will feature national speakers and promote evidence-based practice guidelines.

RESULTS: Eighty-five primary care and subspecialty practices are actively enrolled in CPN with a total of 385,000 annual outpatient visits. The makeup of insurance status is: HMO/PPO (45%); Medicare only (19%); Medicare HMO (11%); Medicare plus (8%); Medicaid (6%); Uninsured (11%).

CONCLUSIONS: The Community Physicians’ Network will address specific gaps in the health care of African-American and other minority patients by promoting quality care among its members and by facilitating participation in approved clinical trial protocols. The unique academic community partnership is consistent with the NIH roadmap goal of eliminating healthcare disparities.

PMID: 16315391 [PubMed - in process]