Using Clinical Questions Asked by Primary Care Providers Through eConsults to Inform Continuing Professional...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Informatics
• Clinical Practice

Background:

• Continuing professional development (CPD) is crucial for healthcare providers.
• Electronic consultations (eConsults) offer innovative practice-based needs assessment opportunities.
• Assessing the alignment between CPD content and actual physician educational needs is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the congruence between physician educational needs, identified through eConsult questions, and existing CPD offerings.
• To compare the content of clinical questions submitted via eConsults with the topics covered in CPD courses.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of primary care providers' clinical questions submitted through an eConsult service (July 2011-January 2015).
• Categorization of eConsult questions and CPD course content into specific clinical areas.
• Comparison of the proportion of questions asked in each area with the proportion of CPD minutes dedicated to those areas.

Main Results:

• Significant congruencies and discrepancies were observed between the distribution of physician questions and the allocation of CPD content.
• The study identified areas where CPD offerings may not adequately address the practical challenges faced by physicians.

Conclusions:

• eConsult questions represent a valuable, practice-based source for identifying physician professional development needs.
• Traditional needs assessment methods may overlook critical topics frequently addressed in eConsults.
• CPD planners should leverage eConsult data to better align educational offerings with physician requirements.