Thomas Van Hoof, MD, has been appointed associate dean of the Office of Continuing and Community Education at the Health Center at the University of Connecticut, and from this article, he sounds like the right person for the job:

“Interactive education methods, targeted to individual needs and learning styles, combined with system-based interventions such as clinician and patient reminders, educational outreach, and performance feedback, are a powerful combination,” he says.



“We do not always fully leverage the potential of education.”

He also serves as an associate professor in the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care.

This article on MedPageToday is a pretty good needs assessment for cardiac exam CME:

“Cardiac examination skills do not improve after the third year of medical school and may decline after years in practice, which has important implications for medical decision making, patient safety, cost-effective care, and continuing medical education,” they reported in the March 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

To help patients achieve better outcomes when it comes to transplants, Interlink Health Services has an interesting business model, according to The Portland Business Journal:

Hillsboro-based Interlink, which split from a larger company three years ago, plays in a space dominated by mammoth health plans, including United Health Care, Cigna and Aetna Health Insurance. It steers clients to transplant centers with the best outcomes. In exchange for higher patient volumes, the transplant centers grant discounts to Interlink clients.

CME is also integral to its model:

Besides ensuring quality at transplant centers, Interlink provides extensive educational materials for its clients to distribute to members awaiting transplants. Continued education for transplant providers is also an important part of the business because medical standards for transplants change over time.



“It’s something that sets [Interlink] apart, its transplant-related continuing medical education, both for its own case managers and for transplant providers. It has put together online education modules that qualify for continuing education credits,” said Elizabeth Seely, associate executive director, Ohio State University Hospital and the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, part of the Interlink network.

I think we may be seeing more of this kind of thing, as healthcare payers start realizing the obvious when facing rising healthcare costs: Better outcomes for the patient equal better value and less expense for the payers.