Goal: To determine whether learners in a 2023 CE initiative increased their use of approved and recommended therapies compared to a control group of non-learners for the treatment of diabetes
Methods: Med Learning Group (MLG) conducted 37 CE activities in 2023 as part of an educational initiative supported by an independent educational grant from Novo Nordisk. The education focused on diabetes and treatment options with glycemic and extra-glycemic effects. Learners in each activity completed pre-/post-tests. MLG also provided identifying data on 11,119 learners (primary care physicians, cardiologists and advanced practitioners) to IQVIA, who then compared 11,084 of these learners to non-learners as a matched pair control. Control match criteria included geography, specialty, and prescribing behavior. IQVIA used claims data from pre- and post-education to identify change in the use of guideline-recommended and evidence-based therapies for patients among learners compared to control.
Results: Learners achieved a 31% gain in knowledge of the role of GLP-1 RAs in diabetes care based on pre-/post-test questions (N=4738). Via the claims analysis, learners also demonstrated increased appropriate application of guideline-recommended therapies in practice, with incremental new prescriptions of recommended therapies increasing significantly among learners compared to the matched control group of non-learners. The therapeutic landscape included GLP-1 RAs, SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1-GIP combination therapies. Learners selected 521,111 new guideline-recommended pharmacologic interventions for diabetes in the study period. This is 15,578 more (new) guideline-recommended treatments than the control group (p=0.0006).
Conclusion: Learners enhanced their use of guideline-recommended therapies post-education compared to carefully matched controls, demonstrating how CE can positively impact real-world medical practice.
R. Allen: None. L.K. Welch: None.
Novo Nordisk
