New Clinical Care Options White Paper Provides Insights into Use of Social Media and its Impact on Physician CME in 2017 and Beyond

RESTON, Va., Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Clinical Care Options (CCO), a global leader in the development of innovative educational programs and technology platforms, recently released a new online report focusing on the current state of social media usage for US physicians who seek out continuing medical education (CME) online. The detailed findings in this White Paper provide insights into current physician behavior and potential future trends of interest to the CME community at large.

"As social media has come of age, it is increasingly a part of physicians' professional lives," said Andrew D. Bowser, ELS, CHCP, Director of Educational Strategy and Outcomes at CCO. "It is a particularly relevant tool for informal learning, for finding the CME activities most relevant to a user's clinical practice, and in some cases, integral to the education itself."

To learn more about the social media behaviors and attitudes of the learner population, data were culled from a 29-question survey of US physicians who are members of the CCO Web site. More than 200 doctors participated, with results showing that 50% of respondents used social media for professional purposes, and of those individuals, 61% specifically used social media to learn about and access new CME opportunities.

"Meanwhile, CME activities are becoming better integrated with social media," Mr. Bowser said. "However, not all physicians use social media for education or other purposes related to their occupation, citing concerns and barriers such as privacy, appropriateness, and time constraints as reasons for abstaining."

The paper outlines key points of interest to the CME community and proposes an approach to further the integration of social media with CME that is pragmatic, is practical, and takes into account the need for further research and innovation as online CME evolves.

Results of the detailed analysis are broken down categorically by age, sex, specialty, and personal vs professional use. The full report, coupled with considerations for practical integration and forward-thinking experimentation, can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/2kqHsZs

About Clinical Care Options
Clinical Care Options, LLC, is a global leader in the development of innovative educational programs and technology platforms. CCO's team has been a pioneer in the creation of continuing education and decision support resources for healthcare professionals both in the United States and around the world for more than 2 decades. For more information, visit clinicaloptions.com.

inPractice®, a CCO program, is a point-of-care clinical reference tool designed for specialists. Available in hepatology, HIV, oncology, oncology nursing, and rheumatology, inPractice® offers focused specialty-based content written specifically for patient care and a seamless blend of reference and education, certified for continuing education credits. For more information, visit inPractice.com.

SOURCE Clinical Care Options

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