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CME: Heart Failure: Best Practices, Emerging Therapies, and Barriers to Care

ACCREDITATION EXPIRED: December 29, 2017

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online CME self-learning program:

Chronic heart failure (HF) is a widespread and costly condition, which affects nearly 6 million people in the U.S.  HF is the reason for more than 1 million hospitalizations. There are numerous guidelines for the treatment of heart failure, some of which are now dated. HCPs are often unable to keep up with the steady publishing of literature and evolution of clinical practice; that may be true in particular for PCPs in the treatment of HF. There have also been a number of emerging agents, some approved, some investigational, that have implications for clinical practice, and the clinician may need guidance in determining their place, current or anticipated. There are also less common clinical circumstances in which some therapeutic mechanisms may be preferential over others. There are other barriers as well that may be ameliorated, like suboptimal prescribing, or be helpful in guiding patient-provider interactions, such as racial disparities in care, that CME programming may address.

Agenda:

Introduction, Disclosures

Orienting the clinician to the scope of the problem: epidemiology of and risk factors for HF

  • Statistics – snapshots and trends
  • Gender and racial differences
  • Comorbid diseases (diabetes, vascular disease, hypertension)
  • Risk factors, modifiable and non-

Updates in diagnostics, pathophysiology and prognostics [Learning Objective #1]

  • Onset (History and physical)
  • Differential diagnosis and diagnostic criteria
  • Compensatory mechanisms

Treatment of HF

  • Latest evidence supporting when to start therapy [Learning Objective #2]
  • Recent advances in pharmacotherapy therapy and emerging roles [Learning Objective #3]
  • Best practice: putting it all together
  • Patient cases [Learning Objectives #2, 3, & 4]

Barriers to optimal care in patients with HF [Learning Objective #5]

  • Medication non-adherence, adverse effects, and drug-drug interactions
  • The clinician’s role in the patient
  • Relationship triad of healthcare professional, patient, and caregiver, including racial disparity considerations

Summary, conclusions, and best practice recap

Target Audience:

Healthcare professionals specializing in: cardiology, internal medicine, or those who otherwise commonly care for patients with HF or who frequently encounter them or their caregivers in practice.


This program is supported by an educational grant from AMGEN


Release Date: December 29, 2015 -- Expiration Date: December 29, 2017

Faculty: Luanda Grazette, MD

Agenda

Agenda:

Introduction, Disclosures

Orienting the clinician to the scope of the problem: epidemiology of and risk factors for HF

  • Statistics – snapshots and trends
  • Gender and racial differences
  • Comorbid diseases (diabetes, vascular disease, hypertension)
  • Risk factors, modifiable and non-

Updates in diagnostics, pathophysiology and prognostics [Learning Objective #1]

  • Onset (History and physical)
  • Differential diagnosis and diagnostic criteria
  • Compensatory mechanisms

Treatment of HF

  • Latest evidence supporting when to start therapy [Learning Objective #2]
  • Recent advances in pharmacotherapy therapy and emerging roles [Learning Objective #3]
  • Best practice: putting it all together
  • Patient cases [Learning Objectives #2, 3, & 4]

Barriers to optimal care in patients with HF [Learning Objective #5]

  • Medication non-adherence, adverse effects, and drug-drug interactions
  • The clinician’s role in the patient
  • Relationship triad of healthcare professional, patient, and caregiver, including racial disparity considerations

Summary, conclusions, and best practice recap

Learning Objectives

By the end of the session the participant will be able to:

  • Describe the pathophysiology of HF.
  • Identify the present treatment options currently available for management of HF and apply them to patient cases using evidence-based medicine.
  • Describe emerging drug therapies in the treatment of HF
  • Evaluate a treatment plan for a specific patient based on degree of HF to optimize safety and efficacy, suggesting modifications for improvement.
  • Describe barriers to care in HF.

Accreditation

THIS COURSE IS EXPIRED. NO CREDIT WILL BE ISSUED.


Faculty Disclosure and Resolution of COI

 As a provider of continuing medical education, it is the policy of ScientiaCME to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all of its educational activities. In accordance with this policy, faculty and educational planners must disclose any significant relationships with commercial interests whose products or devices may be mentioned in faculty presentations, and any relationships with the commercial supporter of the activity. The intent of this disclosure is to provide the intended audience with information on which they can make their own judgments. Additionally, in the event a conflict of interest (COI) does exist, it is the policy of ScientiaCME to ensure that the COI is resolved in order to ensure the integrity of the CME activity. For this CME activity, any COI has been resolved thru content review ScientiaCME.

Faculty Disclosure:  Luanda Grazette, MD

Disclosures of Educational Planners: Charles Turck, PharmD is an officer and part owner of ScientiaCME, LLC.

Commercial Support Disclosure: This program is supported by an educational grant from AMGEN

Instructions

  • Read the learning objectives above
  • Take the Pre-Test (optional). Completion of the pre-test will help us evaluate the knowledge gained by participating in this CME activity.
  • View the online activity. You may view this is in more than one session, and may pause or repeat any portion of the presentation if you need to.
  • Minimum participation threshold: Take the post-test. A score of 50% or higher is required to pass and proceed to the activity evaluation.
  • Complete the activity evaluation and CME registration. A CE certificate will be emailed to you immediately.

Cultural/Linguistic Competence & Health Disparities

System Requirements

PC
Windows 7 or above
Internet Explorer 8
*Adobe Acrobat Reader
MAC
Mac OS 10.2.8
Safari or Chrome or Firefox
*Adobe Acrobat Reader
Internet Explorer is not supported on the Macintosh

*Required to view Printable PDF Version


Perform Pre-Test (optional)

Please take a few minutes to participate in the optional pre-test. It will help us measure the knowledge gained by participating in this activity.