Five Online CME Courses for Hospitalists

Improve your knowledge of physician-patient communication, preventing surgical site infections, patient handoffs, perioperative medication management, and telephone consultations by participating in the CME courses below.

Communication Skills: Why Bother?Credits: 1.00

Fee: None

Expires: June 4, 2012

Multimedia: None

This course is designed to help attendees improve their communication skills with patients and colleagues, which in turn can increase patient and family satisfaction, strengthen the patient-physician relationship, reduce stress, and improve patient outcomes. The four main topics covered in this activity include: “Why is Effective Communication Necessary,” “Barriers to Communication,” “How to Improve Communication,” and “Breaking Bad News.”

Perioperative Medication ManagementCredits: 2.00

Fee: None

Expires: October 15, 2011

Multimedia: None

Prescribing and managing medications in the perioperative setting can present several challenges for both general internists and subspecialists. This online activity will discuss the principles, available evidence, and expert opinion to be considered when making perioperative management recommendations for some of the most commonly prescribed medications.

Prevention and Treatment of Surgical Site InfectionsCredits: 2.00

Fee: None

Expires: December 15, 2010

Multimedia: None

Surgical site infections (SSIs), a major cause of postoperative illness, longer hospitalization, and increased healthcare costs, are covered thoroughly in this online activity, which outlines the different patient and procedural risk factors that influence SSIs, examines the basic principles of antimicrobial prophylaxis for SSI, reviews nonantibiotic interventions to lessen the risk of SSI, and outlines evaluation for and treatment of an SSI.

Risk Management Consult: Handoffs and HospitalistsCredits: 5.00

Fee: $75.00

Expires: December 31, 2011

Multimedia: Not Listed

With the goal of presenting ways in which participants can avoid malpractice suits—usually caused by a misunderstanding of the nature and scope of a physician’s duty in a give circumstance, due to poor communication—and therefore improve patient safety in the hospital setting, this course addresses “liability considerations involved when one doctor is expected to receive and follow up on the results of medical tests ordered by another physician. It will also discuss the pitfalls of poorly managed hand-offs and how to make them smoother, how to better understand one’s own responsibilities, nondelegable duties as a physician, and how the SBAR communication model works.

The Telephone in Clinical Medicine: An Instrument of Risk and OpportunityCredits: 3.00

Fee: $60.00

Expires: November 23, 2012

Multimedia: None

While the telephone can facilitate patient care, it can also be risky business for the patient and for the clinician, and can result in malpractice cases. This activity aims to illustrate, using real-life case scenarios, potential areas of risk that can be eliminated or reduced to improve the outcome of clinical problems presented by patients over the phone.