This interactive, case-based, online activity is designed to meet the educational needs of medical and surgical transplant physicians, nurses, pharmacists, coordinators, case managers, and social workers who manage patients with solid organ transplants.

A unique component of the program will allow you to gain a better understanding of patients’ and caregivers’ perspectives by comparing your responses to the same survey questions that were posed to a representative sample of transplant recipients and/or their caregivers. This innovative activity is designed to highlight areas of common understanding or opportunities for improved patient-provider communication.

In this program, we will discuss a number of issues that are important to primary care clinicians who manage patients at risk for, or who have recently become infected with HIV. The program will review epidemiologic and statistical prevalence data on HIV in the United States, the rationale for current efforts to expand screening, and methods to improve the primary care provider’s ability to diagnose this disease early in its course. We will also discuss the available types of HIV tests, some of the barriers to optimizing HIV testing, and strategies to overcome these barriers. In addition, we will review the latest evidence-based recommendations for managing HIV in treatment-naive patients. Finally, we will discuss how primary care providers can confidently integrate HIV management into their clinical practice.

The Print-to-Practice program is intended to focus on recently published, peer-reviewed literature, which will be summarized and critically evaluated by experts in the management of HIV infection. In particular, this program will focus on current guidelines concerning HIV testing and the important need for early diagnosis of this disease. Additionally, barriers to testing and treatment in the field, as well as evidence-based recommendations for HIV management will be assessed in the context of the, contemporary primary care practice. A discussion on what health care providers who manage HIV can reasonably accomplish during a typical office visit will also be included.

This interactive, case-based, online activity is designed to meet the educational needs of hospitalists, orthopedic surgeons, hematologists, intensivists, internists, family physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals who treat patients with or at risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). A unique component of the program will allow you to gain a better understanding of patients’ perspectives by comparing your responses to the same survey questions that were posed to a representative sample of patients who experienced a VTE or who are at risk to suffer a venous thromboembolic event. This innovative activity is designed to highlight areas of common understanding or opportunities for improved patient-provider communication.

This educational activity will review the pathophysiology and criteria for the diagnosis of gout. Current therapeutic options for treatment and prevention of acute attacks, and long-term management of hyperuricemia will be discussed.

This webcast will discuss recent changes in the epidemiology of IFIs and available methods for their identification in patients with AML. Current and emerging approaches to the treatment of IFIs will be explored. Additionally, the webcast will include a debate by program faculty on important issues associated with AML-related IFIs.

The ultimate goal of this educational program is the clinical application of program content to improve outcomes for patients being treated for AML.

During the coming decades, the United States population age 65 years and older will increase rapidly from 40.2 million in 2010 to 71.5 million by 2030. Thus, as the “baby boom” generation ages into retirement and enjoys ever-longer life expectancy, more and more Americans will require treatment for chronic conditions. Both physicians and nurses acknowledge that their training is inadequate for providing chronic care and that poor chronic care leads to poor outcomes and unnecessary hospitalizations. This continuing nursing/physician educational series incorporates the comprehensive evaluation of vulnerable patients with key topics geared to a broad audience of nurses, physicians, and other health care providers interested in the challenges of applying evidence-based guidelines to this ever-growing, at risk population.

Topic Options:

• Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD)
• Osteoarthritis
• Urinary Incontinence

The introduction of targeted therapy over the past decade has transformed the outlook for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Imatinib as front-line therapy in patients with chronic phase CML has shown excellent results at 7 years in the IRIS trial. However, patients need to be closely monitored for molecular and cytogenetic responses at specific time points. Assessment of response milestones is important for identifying patients who fit the criteria for suboptimal response or failure to imatinib. For these patients, dose optimization or switching to a newer tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) should be considered. Patients who are intolerant to imatinib despite adequate management of adverse events may also benefit from the newer TKIs. This educational activity will utilize a case-based approach to address scenarios that are commonly encountered by clinicians who treat patients with CML, from initiating treatment, to monitoring response, to switching therapy when necessary.

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This educational program will provide an understanding of the underlying compensatory mechanisms involved in CKD –associated hyperphosphatemia in conjunction with learning more about how and when to safely and effectively control phosphorus levels. Additionally, this activity will highlight disparities in perception between the patient and the health care team regarding medication and chronic kidney disease that present as areas of opportunity for ongoing communication and education.

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As the population of America continues to age, and the prevalence of chronic pain increases, it is essential to examine similarities and differences in the chronic pain experience and its therapeutic management across populations of young and older adults. Chronic pain has been shown to have detrimental effects on all domains of health status, also referred to as health-related quality of life or HRQL. At a time when pain control is considered a human right, customizing a patient-centric interdisciplinary approach to pain management may improve HRQL outcomes. Recognizing the various nuances of age-related factors affecting chronic pain is a first step in exploring how treatments may be adjusted to compensate for variations and improve quality of care.

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Current guidelines from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) acknowledge allergy and IgE-mediated processes as major contributors to persistent asthma. These guidelines—the Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR-3)—outline specific recommendations for evaluating the potential role of allergy and IgE in patients with asthma. Nevertheless, many office-based pulmonologists underestimate the clinical relevance of these processes to asthma and do not routinely test or screen their asthma patients for allergies. This educational activity is designed to increase awareness among pulmonologists and their ancillary healthcare staff of the role of IgE-driven processes in asthma and instruct on ways to integrate pertinent EPR-3 guidelines into clinical practice, including implementing allergy testing and allergen avoidance measures for all patients with persistent asthma.

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This activity will review the importance of prompt intervention, careful evaluation at treatment initation, and long-term surveillance of patients with RA. Recent trends in the management of RA will be introduced, strategies to promote a collaborative approach to managing RA will be discussed, and therapeutic options will be evaluated. In addition, the activity will address the role of biologic agents in the treatment of RA and discuss the impact of comorbidities on the overall care of the patient with RA.

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Approximately 30,000 children and adults in the United States have cystic fibrosis (CF) and the prevalence continues to increase as medical advances markedly improve survival. In 2005, the median age of survival was 37 years, which represents a more than two-fold increase over the expected survival of 15 years in 1970. Nearly 1000 new cases of CF are currently diagnosed each year. Although a cure for this genetic disease remains the long-term goal, preventing lung damage, as well as stabilizing and potentially improving pulmonary function are the immediate goals of respiratory therapy in patients with CF. The management of this progressive disease includes physiotherapy, antibiotics, therapies for controlling mucus hypersecretion, reducing inflammation in the lungs, and improving nutritional status.

The remarkable progress in CF treatment and patient outcomes over the past 35 years makes CF a model of quality improvement in health care. Research at multiple levels of pathophysiology, from the basic defect in the CF transmembrane regulator protein, to inflammation, and infection, as well as increased knowledge of nutrition, will continue to advance therapies for CF. The median survival of patients with CF is expected to extend beyond the current 37 years. This program will review the importance of preserving lung function and incorporating effective mucolytic therapy into standard treatments, with the hope of advancing and standardizing CF care and improving patient outcomes.

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Factor VIII inhibitor development poses both diagnostic and management challenges to the clinician. Acquired hemophilia, which is associated with other disease states in approximately half of the cases, is a severe condition with a high mortality rate. Early recognition and diagnosis are keys to timely initiation of appropriate therapy. The development of factor VIII inhibitors in patients with hemophilia A is a severe complication of replacement therapy that increases morbidity. In patients who develop factor VIII inhibitors, disease management goals are two-fold: treat the bleeding episode, then eradicate the inhibitor.

This educational activity will discuss the clinical and laboratory diagnosis of factor VIII inhibitors in patients with acquired hemophilia and congenital hemophilia A. The most recent data pertaining to therapeutic interventions and patient monitoring will also be reviewed.

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer, comprising approximately 87% of all lung cancer types. Despite progress in early detection and treatment, NSCLC is often diagnosed at an advanced stage and prognosis is poor. Historically, treatment has included a variety of modalities such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. More recently, therapeutic options for NSCLC have evolved to include targeted agents such as vinorelbine, paclitaxel, gemcitabine, docetaxel, pemetrexed, bevacizumab, and erlotinib. The expanding role of the targeted therapies and the concept of tailoring therapies based on clinical and molecular markers are transforming the treatment of NSCLC.

This program will include an overview of clinical trial data on targeted therapies, a discussion of how to incorporate the latest clinical trial data into clinical practice; and a review of the predictive value of biomarkers in tailoring therapy and determining prognosis.

This program format consists of a one-hour panel discussion.

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By tailoring initial treatment based on patient characteristics, preferences, and pretreatment drug-resistance profile, the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been successful in achieving sustained virologic suppression in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), positively impacting immune system function, morbidity, mortality, and quality of life. However, early failure of antiretroviral therapy, which is a consequence of multiple factors including patient characteristics, poor treatment adherence, and emergence of resistant strains, represents a serious barrier to effective disease management. Timely assessment of resistance and correctable factors that contribute to early treatment failure is essential in optimizing therapy and improving patient outcome.

This educational activity will review factors associated with early treatment failure and the application of viral resistance testing in the clinical setting. Strategies for managing early treatment failure, including sequencing of drug classes and sequencing within the drug class, will be discussed.

This program format consists of a one-hour panel discussion.

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Expert faculty will review the latest clinical advances in the treatment of cancer, query participants on optimal treatment strategies, and discuss methods for integrating findings into clinical practice. Programs Include: Interactive slide presentations with downloadable slides.

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