RISK MANAGEMENT

Education PROGRAMS

Online CME Courses

When you complete any of the approved online courses listed below, please remember to print your CME certificate(s) and fax to MDAdvantage's Risk Management department at 609-896-5811 to receive credit toward your premium discount.

Advanced Practice Strategies

Physician policyholders can take the first of five Patient Safety courses, The Nature and Causes of Errors and Injuries in Health Care, at no charge. Completion awards insureds CME credit and counts toward the MDAdvantage education discount. Other courses in the Patient Safety series are available at $40 each, or $145 for the bundle of four remaining courses. CME certificates may be purchased for a charge of $10 per course.

Patient Safety Bundle

Given the widespread risk, preventing medical errors has become a national priority. Hospitals and institutions have long recognized the problem of medical error, and now physicians and other healthcare workers are also beginning to play a key role in error prevention. This series of courses explore common systems problems and solutions and lay the foundation for understanding human errors in order to prevent future medical errors.

*Click on each title to learn more

1. The Nature and Causes of Errors and Injuries in Health Care
   
   CME credits: 2
   While the subject of iatrogenic injury (or what most of us call complications) is not new, the amount of public and professional attention paid to it is. Although initially driven by the media focus on the high mortality figures, the safety movement is sustained by the recognition that there is much more we can do to decrease errors and injuries. In this course, students will be introduced to the systems approach to error prevention and some of the methods that are being used successfully in hospitals and offices throughout the country to ensure safe delivery of medical care.



2. Using Systems Theory to Understand Errors and Injuries in Health Care
   
   CME credits: 2
   We know that all humans are prone to error, but the likelihood of our making a mistake is greatly enhanced by defects in the design of the complex systems we work in. We call these defects latent errors. These defects in our systems arise from sound-alike names and look-alike packages for drugs, complicated workflow patterns, excessive work loads for nurses, and so forth, that create conditions leading even competent and careful practitioners to make mistakes. In this course, students will gain a much deeper understanding of the concept of system, some principles of how complex systems work and how systems theory can be applied to healthcare. Importantly, students will also learn how systems theory changes the concept of individual responsibility for patient safety.



3. Preventing Errors and Injuries in Health Care Using Systems Theory
   
   CME credits: 2
   This course provides information about how to use systems theory and human factors engineering to improve medical care. Students will learn how human factors experts analyze failures and how they redesign systems to prevent them. This is an exciting new way to look at medical care and to provide safe and efficient care for patients.



4. Responding to Adverse Events and Errors in Health Care
   
   CME credits: 2
   In this course, we will put human factors principles to work as we do a root cause analysis of a serious adverse event and look at its effects on the patient, as well as on the clinicians involved (the "second victims"). While students will not be equipped with all of the skills needed to do a comprehensive systems analysis, they will gain an understanding of what is involved and what can be learned. Students will gain a deeper understanding of what a nonpunitive environment really means. If we are to make healthcare safe, we must learn from our mistakes. This course will show you how.



5. Changing Systems
   
   CME credits: 2
   In this course, students will learn a method called "rapid cycle change," or PDSA. This is a simple but effective method of making small changes in systems, which, when added up, can make major changes. It is based on decades of experience in other industries, but, also from expanding use in healthcare. It is a powerful tool, and one that can be used right away.

You will find registration instructions and a direct link to the APS courses by logging on to your MDAdvantage account here.

Virtual Lecture Hall

MDAdvantage is pleased to provide you with access to online CME courses through Virtual Lecture Hall. MDAdvantage insureds receive a 20% discount on the Virtual Lecture Hall annual membership fee and the courses approved as part of our Risk Management Education program. The discounted $40 membership fee provides $60 in CME certificate funds for 4 CME credits. Only the MDAdvantage-approved courses listed below are eligible for credit toward the education premium discount. All course modules must be completed.

*Click on each title to learn more

1. Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Risk Assessment and Management
   
   3 AMA/PRA Category 1 credits (hours) approved by University of Arizona College of Medicine at the Arizona Health Sciences Center.
   This course helps you choose the most appropriate diagnostic strategies for patients with breast masses. Such topics as breast cancer risk factors, record keeping and use of the Gail model, patient counseling and communication, clinical trials, pharmacologic interventions, including the use of Tamoxifen, and prophylactic surgical intervention and lifestyle alterations are reviewed.



2. Risk Management and the Art of Medicine
   
   AAFP Prescribed credit 3.00 credit(s) / hour(s) approved by the Medulogic and its equivalent to AMA/PRA Category 1.
   The main focus of this course is to equip physicians with methods and strategies that will reduce the risk of liability even when the patient outcome is not favorable. You will understand the elements required to prove a medical malpractice claim and the techniques to lowering medical malpractice risk, improving patient satisfaction, and enriching clinical practice.



3. Prevention of Medical Errors
   
   2 AMA/PRA Category 1 credit(s) / hour(s) approved by the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
   This 2-part course will help you to evaluate the healthcare delivery system and assist you in identifying the root causes of medical errors and medical near mishaps. When evaluating medical errors in this course, you will give regard to the cause and effect of human emotion such as fatigue and haste and learn methods to reduce human fallibility and improve personal performance by making effective changes in your healthcare delivery system.

Click here to register with Virtual Lecture Hall and to access approved courses. *

Questions? Call the MDAdvantage Risk Management Department at 888-355-5551, ext. 1306.