Postgraduate Institute for Medicine, in Partnership with RMEI Medical Education, Announces an Educational Awareness Campaign for World Arthritis Day

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) and RMEI Medical Education (RMEI) have launched the first in a three-part series of global medical education interventions to address ongoing gaps in clinical practice, and to raise awareness for World Arthritis Day by focusing on the importance of early diagnosis and access to evidence-based treatment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The partners hope the first activity will stimulate professional reflection on practice behavior and patient outcomes, while later content will address emerging data on therapeutic pathways and patient engagement.

“Our research has shown that proactive monitoring of disease activity and selecting appropriate treatment options – particularly in patients with moderate to severe disease – as well as use of shared decision-making approaches, are areas of particular deficit. The Learner Pathway in RA will address these issues with laser-like focus.”

The series is entitled Achieving Success in RA Assessment and Management: A Learner Pathway to Improve Patient Outcomes, and will incorporate alternating cycles of education, assessment, and recalibration of content to meet evolving healthcare provider needs.

“If pharmacological treatment for rheumatoid arthritis is started within 12 weeks after the onset of symptoms, this could minimize the level of joint impact over time and increase the chances of remission¹,” noted Dr. Jeffrey Curtis, professor of medicine and director of the Arthritis Clinical Intervention Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in the United States. “Both EULAR and ACR guidelines advocate for a treat-to-target approach with shared decision making. There has been a general failure to adopt this in clinical practice, and the weight of the evidence is that these approaches work to optimize care for patients with RA.”

Each of the 3 online courses will present learners with unique educational environments: the first, called Clinical Reflections™, uses a virtual clinical setting to allow learners to rethink decisions based on realistic patient care scenarios and to modify their management plans accordingly to affect behavioral change. The second, Clinical Convergence^®, engages learners by integrating video patient perspectives with clinical content to illustrate potential differences between clinician and patient perceptions of their care. The third and final course, Clinical Conversations™, teaches clinicians certain technical skills and a step-wise process for integrating shared decision-making into patient care, a core competency not taught extensively in medical school and not appropriately utilized by clinicians in various specialties and disciplines.

Supported by independent educational grant funding from Genzyme, a Sanofi Company, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, this advanced analytics-driven initiative is the first of its kind in the RA education field.

“Why this is important to patients with RA might seem obvious, since clinicians who engage in RA-related education tailored to specific drivers of educational need tend to improve the care they deliver to their patients,” said Jacqui Brooks, MBBCh, MRCPsych, Senior Vice President of Medical Strategy at RMEI. “Our research has shown that proactive monitoring of disease activity and selecting appropriate treatment options – particularly in patients with moderate to severe disease – as well as use of shared decision-making approaches, are areas of particular deficit. The Learner Pathway in RA will address these issues with laser-like focus.”

This initiative has been planned to support EULAR’s “Don’t Delay, Connect Today” campaign, an initiative for uniting the voices of People with Arthritis and Rheumatism (PARE) organizations, scientific member societies, and health professional associations, with the united goal of highlighting the importance of early diagnosis and access to treatment.

About RMEI Medical Education
Founded in 1990, RMEI Medical Education (RMEI) is one of the longest operating medical education companies in the US. With an emphasis on sophisticated learner analytics for program design, delivery, and assessment, RMEI works to elevate the dialogue on what makes for effective education. In designing innovative teaching modalities such as the Clinical Convergence™ platform for its 5 primary therapeutic areas, RMEI seeks to inspire greater collaboration within the care team and stronger commitment to patient engagement. For more information, visit www.rmei.com, call 856-672-3152, or e-mail at contact@rmei.com.

About EULAR
The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) is a pan-European, non-profit organization that represents people with arthritis/rheumatism, health professionals in rheumatology, and scientific societies of rheumatology across Europe. EULAR aims to reduce the burden of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) on the individual and society and to improve the treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of them. It promotes the translation of research advances into improved daily care for people with RMDs, and fights for governing bodies in Europe to recognize the needs of people with RMDs.

EULAR’s members include scientific societies, health professional associations, patient organizations, corporate members and people with RMDs across Europe. 2017 marks the 70^th anniversary of EULAR, marking 70 years of research and the collaboration between physicians, health professionals, and patients. For more information, please visit www.eular.org.

¹ Van der Linden MP, le Cessie S, Raza K, et al. Long-Term Impact of Delay in Assessment of Patients with Early Arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2010;62(12):3537-3546.