BALTIMORE, Md.—September 9, 2008—To overcome clinical and practice management barriers to successfully manage diabetes patient health, more than 1,500 primary care physicians nationwide have signed up to participate in the complimentary continuing medical education (CME) series, Performance Improvement Strategies: Diabetes Care (PI Diabetes).

Performance Improvement (PI) CME was developed in 2005 from the work of two American Medical Association (AMA)-convened national task forces and introduced as a nationally standardized CME format for physicians. Today’s physicians are expected to evaluate clinical practice methods according to board-specific competencies and assess quality of care compared with peers and national standards.

“We how vital it is for busy healthcare professionals to have convenient access to evidence-based, participatory CME,” said William A. Mencia, MD, Vice President of Education & Medical Affairs for Med-IQ. “This PI series meets those expectations while emphasizing quality of care and improved patient outcomes.”

PI CME Track for Physicians
Endorsed by The Endocrine Society, PI Diabetes is designed to help primary care physicians assess quality of care while they practice. To help develop accredited content for this structured series, Med-IQ convened an expert roundtable and conducted research in primary care practices across the country. Physicians who complete the below stages in succession earn 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

Stage A
Identify specific barriers through self-assessment

Stage B
Participate in an educational activity and implement learned strategies into your everyday practice

Stage C
Reassess and summarize personal outcomes and practice changes

Certificate of Completion Track for Primary Care Professionals
After participating in the PI curriculum, physicians are encouraged to learn more by pursuing a Certificate of Completion (COC) in diabetes care for a minimum of six additional CME/CE credits. Other healthcare professionals can also earn a COC in diabetes care and add more activities and credits as they wish.

CDEs, nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), nurses (RNs), pharmacists, and physicians can earn a COC by choosing from numerous activities that address (1) basic diabetes care, (2) global diabetes management, (3) pharmacologic management, and (4) clinical complications. The core curriculum of COC activities from the above topic areas include:

• 16 live interactive workshops
• 1 patient education guide
• 5 interactive Webcasts
• 2 audioconferences
• 4 newsletters

A survey conducted in 2007 by The Patient-Centered Primary Care Practice: Focus on Diabetes indicated a need for more healthcare professional education in clinical and nonclinical diabetes care topics.

About Med-IQ

Med-IQ, America’s most respected continuing medical education (CME) company, is an accredited provider of CME that educates and inspires healthcare professionals through programs that deliver sophisticated outcomes-based educational designs with measurable results in professional competence and performance. Med-IQ is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the California Board of Registered Nursing (CBRN), and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a provider of continuing medical education to physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, respectively.

For more information, contact:

Catherine B. Mullaney, MHA
Vice President, Audience Development
and Educational Outcomes
443 543 5154