Educational Impact of Live and Online Enduring CME Activities Presented at the 65th ASH Annual Meeting on Hematology/Oncology Specialists Evaluated Using Pre-/Post-Education Assessments

Background: As translational and clinical research across the continuum of classical and malignant hematology continues to accelerate at an unprecedented pace, many hematologist/oncologists (hem/oncs) may find it challenging to stay up to date on new discoveries and constantly evolving standards of care. The American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting offers an unparalleled opportunity to present live continuing medical education (CME/CE) activities to a broad cross-section of hem/onc specialists. The reach of these in-person or real-time (synchronous) programs is multiplied by converting recordings into accredited (asynchronous), online CME activities available to interprofessional clinician audiences for on-demand learning. The objective of this study was to assess educational impact of 8 live ASH 2023 plus enduring symposia on hem/oncs clinical knowledge, competencies, and confidence.

Methods: The Medscape Education/Medscape Oncology educational portfolio at the 65^th ASH Annual Meeting consisted of eight, 90-minute, CME-accredited Friday Satellite Symposia presented live on December 8, 2023, and posted online within 3 weeks as CME-accredited enduring activities consisting of multimedia recordings with synchronized slides. Two of the enduring activities also offered nursing and/or pharmacy CE credit. Symposia topics included 2 programs on classical hematologic disorders, 1 on lymphoid malignancies, 3 on myeloid malignancies, 1 on plasma cell disorders, and 1 addressing health equity within specific classical hematologic disorders developed in collaboration with the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.

Educational impact was measured with pre-/post-education assessments including multiple-choice knowledge/competency questions and 5-point Likert scale confidence questions. Data from all hem/onc learners who completed pre- and/or post-education assessments were aggregated across activities and stratified by learning themes. Relative changes in the percentage of correct responses and clinicians who were confident (value of 4 or 5) were used to measure impact on knowledge, competency, and confidence. A McNemar test assessed significant levels of changes reported, with P values < .05 considered statistically significant. Data were collected through July 18, 2024.

Results: The educational portfolio demonstrated a profound reach to 76,005 learners at the close of data collection (10,070 live learners plus 65,935 enduring learners). Enduring participants included 2746 hem/onc physicians. Each enduring learning theme for this audience resulted in statistically significant improvements in knowledge, competency, and confidence after consumption of education (N = 203 to 332).

• Knowledge of the latest clinical trial data increased from 35% to 40% (14% relative change; P < .001)
• Competency in designing personalized and equitable care plans improved from 40% to 48% (20% relative change; P < .001)
• Competency in managing treatment-related adverse events rose from 53% to 61% (15% relative change;
  P < .001)
• Confidence in integrating data into clinical care decisions grew from 16% to 25% (56% relative change;
  P < .001)
• Confidence in individualizing care as part of the healthcare team increased from 13% to 18% (38% relative change; P < .01)

Conclusions: Participation in live or recorded CME-/CE-accredited activities presented at the 65^th ASH Annual Meeting resulted in statistically significant improvements in hem/onc learners’ knowledge, competency, and confidence related to the care of patients with a variety of hematologic disorders. These activities have been observed to help address educational gaps but the effect of these activities on clinical practice requires further study.