Online CME becoming increasingly popular

Key reasons include easier-to-use formats and wider access to faster Internet service.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. Aug. 2, 2004.

David Gifford, MD, an internist subspecializing in rheumatology, gets most of his continuing medical education online.

He is a contract physician at Darnall Army Community Hospital in Fort Hood, Texas, working 20 hours a week. Attending medical conferences is too expensive, he said.

Going online or perusing a CD-ROM is inexpensive and can be done any time.

"The convenience really is the primary factor and my ability to select for relevance," Dr. Gifford said. "The simple reality is at a meeting I have to struggle to find things relevant to my practice. So much of it is basic science."

A growing number of physicians are discovering what Dr. Gifford has found. The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's latest annual report found that 9.57% of physicians who registered for CME activity in 2003 did so for an online course, up from 6% in 2002.

Long touted as the next big thing in CME, online courses have been slow to catch on. However, this year's data suggest they are finally gaining momentum.

"We're seeing the numbers go up significantly," said Steven Zatz, MD, executive vice president of professional information services and chief medical officer for WebMD, one of the largest CME providers on the Internet. "As more doctors have higher speed connections, it makes it more convenient."

Some 73% of physicians took some level of CME online in 2003, according to Manhattan Research, with 97% of all physicians using the Internet during that year. Forrester Research said 88% of physicians went online at least once a month in 2003, and 43% had a broadband connection at work.