Using UpToDate for CME credit

[dphy83]

Do any of you do it? I currently have a student account, so obviously I'm not eligible for CME right now anyway, but I was messing around with my UpToDate account to see how the CME credit is processed and became a little confused. In order to claim CME from UpToDate, does your account activity need to be directly tied to a particular patient? It looks as though I have to choose how each article that is to be counted as CME was applied to my practice, with the choices being "this modified my (treatment) plan," "this reinforced my plan," or "I need more information." 

 

Long question, short, can I not simply earn CME from UpToDate for self-study, or is CME-related activity supposed to be directly tied into an actual clinical encounter.

 

Of course, I am not sure how the NCCPA would know if the articles that I read are related to an actual patient or not. Either way, any clarification is much appreciated.

[jb5158]

I use it a lot. You don't have to tie it to one person per se. You choose why you searched a topic and then select how you applied the information. For example, I reviewed the page "Etiology and Diagnosis of Tinnitus" because I wanted to make sure I had a full differential diagnosis in my head when I saw a patient. Therefore, I clicked "Diagnosis" for what I was searching for and I clicked "This reinforced my plan" for how I applied the information. You don't have to give any patient information, history, treatment plan, or anything else at all. 

 

So essentially, you're probably looking up an article because of a particular patient or encounter, but the feedback for the CME does not have to have any information about a specific person. 

[ventana]

yup - over 200 credits and counting....

[rev ronin]

Never been worth the hassle for me.  Timing out and nonsense like that does not work when you're sharing rooms with multiple other providers.  Haven't tried in a couple of years, though.

[GreatChecko]

Its there if I need it, but don't really use it much. I use the log in feature to access UpToDate away from work for free. It gives you 30 days of offsite access if you log in through an institution that subscribes to the service. I know that helped me out a few times while on rotations in smaller offices.

[Hckyplyr]

I used it for all of the Cat 1 credits, because I hate going to conferences/etc. It was so easy. Every time you log in and search a topic and open the article, you get 0.5 credit hrs. So it adds up FAST, and worked perfectly. It saves all of your searches and makes it even easier to see what you searched, and exactly when, which took me about 10 min to log into the CME credit system. Saved me so much time. 

[Hckyplyr]

Actually, here's an old email between myself and a rep from CME NCCPA certification. 

 

 

Hello, 
  I'm a practicing PA-C, and I have a few questions regarding CME. I understand that UpToDate counts towards Category 1 credits. I have an account set up that logs my hours accumulated. Here are my questions:
1. Is there a maximum that I can enter? This cycle I need 30 category 1 credits, and 20 SA/PI credits. Can 30 of those credits be all UpToDate?
The maximum amount of Category 1 credits that can be logged is 200. The maximum amount of Category 2 credits is 1000. There is no set amount of credits that can be logged with one provider. If you choose to log the remaining credits using only one provider, this is acceptable. 


2. Since each entry will be small, do I have to enter each and every time I used it for each credit, or can I list UpToDate once, and the total hours?
If you complete several activities using the same provider, you do not have to list each activity separately. You can make one entry, enter the date range, and provide the total number of credits earned.


3. Please explain exactly how to enter the information using UpToDate for category 1 credits, so I do not make any mistakes
For the activity title you can enter "Various UpToDate activities" and follow the remaining steps listed above.

[loliz]

I like the app too and it is an easy way to keep track of CME since you aren't logging in and out. I get lots of hours this way.

 

Now if we could only figure out a way to get SA or PI hours in a way that was less consistent with straight paying off the NCCPA....

[rev ronin]

Never been worth the hassle for me.  Timing out and nonsense like that does not work when you're sharing rooms with multiple other providers.  Haven't tried in a couple of years, though.

So, the feedback form everyone else here motivated me to try again.  Was incredibly simple to use the registration process through the school for which I precept and have library access, and now I can use UpToDate anywhere on my iPad, slick as can be.  It's nice to be wrong/outdated sometimes!