CME: Current and Emerging Strategies in the Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
ACCREDITATION EXPIRED: December 26, 2014
Activity Description / Statement of Need:
In this online CME self-learning program:
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) affects up to 13% of the worldwide population and is poised to become the third major cause of death in middle-income countries over the next two decades if tobacco smoking and air pollution continue to increase. COPD is an incurable, progressive disease involving pulmonary airflow limitation with an inflammatory response and is both preventable and treatable. If not treated appropriately, it can lead to disability, comorbid conditions, decreased quality of life, and an increased risk of premature death.
Because COPD has clinical features that may be observed in other disease states, it is essential to correctly diagnose the patient according to guidelines using pulmonary function tests and not just per symptomology. Increasingly, a focus of care is on early detection of the disease because it can be crucial in delaying the progression of disease and prolonging lung function. Though recommendations include the use of spirometry to diagnose COPD, it is used only limitedly due to cost constraints, training issues, and lack of time. The result is approximately 30% of patients being diagnosed appropriately with the remaining percentage of patients not in accordance with guideline standards, which represents a practice gap.
Moreover, the literature suggests that: there are may be emerging or existing patterns of racial and gender disparities in healthcare, treatment, and outcomes of patients with COPD; race- and ethnicity-based discrimination within the healthcare environment are associated with disparities in care; and that such discrimination is associated with both worse chronic health condition control and a higher incidence catastrophic health events.
This program has been designed to update healthcare professionals’ knowledge in treating COPD and to increase their competence in treating it.
Agenda:
- Introduction, Disclosures
- Definition and epidemiology of and risk factors for COPD
- Clinical Features of COPD
- Treatment of COPD: the GOLD guidelines and emerging data
- Barriers to optimal care in patients with COPD
- Summary, conclusions, and best practice recap
Target Audience:
Healthcare professionals specializing in cardiology, critical care medicine, family medicine, geriatric medicine, internal medicine, public health, pulmonology, and any other clinicians specializing in the management of patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Commercial Support Disclosure: This program is supported by educational grants from Boehringer Ingelheim.
Release Date: December 26, 2012 -- Expiration Date: December 26, 2014
Faculty: Theresa Prosser, PharmD
Agenda
Learning Objectives
By the end of the session the participant will be able to:
- Describe the challenges associated with diagnosing and treating patients with COPD, including taking common comorbidities and concomitant drug therapies into account.
- Apply existing diagnostic recommendations, criteria, and screening tools to practice in the management of COPD.
- Formulate an effective stepwise approach to treating a patient with COPD based on the severity of their disease including pharmacologic therapy, medical devices, and exercise therapy in a manner that aims to improve quality of life and avoid and manage exacerbations and their consequences.
- Apprise fellow healthcare professionals of highlights and recommendations from the most recent COPD treatment (e.g., GOLD) guidelines and recent studies.
- Describe how different COPD therapies work mechanistically and clinically and demonstrate the ability to formulate the same information in common language in an effort to communicate with patients who have COPD.
Accreditation
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through ScientiaCME. ScientiaCME is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
ACCREDITATION FOR THIS COURSE HAS EXPIRED. YOU MAY VIEW THE PROGRAM, BUT CME / CE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND NO CERTIFICATE WILL BE ISSUED.
Faculty Disclosure and Resolution of COI
As an provider of continuing medical education, it is the policy of ScientiaCME to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all of its educational activities. In accordance with this policy, faculty and educational planners must disclose any significant relationships with commercial interests whose products or devices may be mentioned in faculty presentations, and any relationships with the commercial supporter of the activity. The intent of this disclosure is to provide the intended audience with information on which they can make their own judgments. Additionally, in the event a conflict of interest (COI) does exist, it is our policy to ensure that the COI is resolved in order to ensure the integrity of the CME activity. For this CME activity, any COI has been resolved thru content review by ScientiaCME.
Faculty Disclosure: Theresa Prosser, PharmD reports that she has no relevant financial disclosures.
Disclosures of Educational Planner: Charles Turck, PharmD is an officer and part owner of ScientiaCME, LLC. ScientiaCME has received grants from Novo Nordisk, the commercial supporter of this program.
Commercial Support Disclosure: This program is supported by educational grants from Boehringer Ingelheim.
Instructions
- Read the learning objectives above
- Take the Pre-Test (optional). Completion of the pre-test will help us evaluate the knowledge gained by participating in this CME activity.
- View the online activity. You may view this is in more than one session, and may pause or repeat any portion of the presentation if you need to.
- Minimum participation threshold: Take the post-test. A score of 70% or higher is required to pass and proceed to the activity evaluation.
- Complete the activity evaluation and CME registration. A CE certificate will be emailed to you immediately.
System Requirements
Windows 7 or above
Internet Explorer 8
*Adobe Acrobat Reader
Mac OS 10.2.8
Safari or Chrome or Firefox
*Adobe Acrobat Reader
Internet Explorer is not supported on the Macintosh
*Required to view Printable PDF Version
Please take a few minutes to participate in the optional pre-test. It will help us measure the knowledge gained by participating in this activity.