The Best Benefits of Online CME Courses
The benefits of continuing medical education for healthcare professionals can’t be understated. Not only are AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ legally required for healthcare professionals to maintain their licensure in almost every state, but they’re also critical to improving patient outcomes and ensuring medical professionals continue to grow their expertise.
However, to make CME as beneficial as possible, it needs to be accessible for healthcare professionals. Today, CME is no longer limited to in-person conferences and events. Instead, it can be completed online through various methods, offering numerous benefits to healthcare professionals and organizations alike.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits of online CME.
Benefits of Online CME for Healthcare Professionals
The group that has the most to gain from online CME offerings are healthcare professionals, from physicians to nurse practitioners and physicians assistants. Of the many ways healthcare professionals can benefit from these courses, some of the most noteworthy are:
Convenience
One of the greatest benefits of on-demand, online CME is the convenience it offers. With online CME, there’s no need to arrange travel, time away from your practice, or make concrete plans months ahead of time. Online CME suites allow you to purchase courses at any time, and complete them at your own pace.
For example, you can start a course at the office, continue it on your commute, and finish up at home. Additionally, the ability to rewatch videos as many times as you need to absorb dense content is a great advantage for online CME.
Less Time Away from Family and Friends
Due to the nature of your work as a healthcare professional, you probably already place a premium on the amount of time you have with your family and friends. A CME conference that takes you away for a few days simply might not be the most appealing CME option to you. Fortunately, because online CME allows you to complete courses when it works best for you, it’s easy to fit into your schedule without interfering with family time.
Affordability and Savings
Online CME is typically more affordable than in-person conferences. While Continuing Education Company’s conferences are held in family-friendly locations to make travel as easy as possible, there are still costs involved. Transportation and lodging still need to be sorted out, and childcare needs to be arranged if you aren’t bringing your children with you. That, luggage costs, and incidentals along the way can make online CME far more affordable and a much better deal, especially when you purchase an entire collection.
Wider Topic Selection
One benefit of online CME that’s frequently overlooked is that you have a wider selection of topics to choose from. While in-person conferences typically have a very wide scope for their main focus, or hone in on topics like hypertension, the online CME suites such as the CME365™ catalog offer courses in various specialties areas that can be taken at any time.
This allows healthcare professionals the freedom to earn CME credits in their specialty without being locked into a particular date for a conference.
Additionally, online CME often ranges from offering a single AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ to as many as 170 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. This makes fulfilling your state’s relicensing requirements a simple process, and helps you avoid spending extra money and time on credits you don’t need.
Organizational Benefits of Online CME
Individual healthcare professionals aren’t the only ones who benefit from online CME. Hospitals, medical centers, and other healthcare providers can benefit from online CME as well.
Many of the ways your organization can benefit from online CME are the same ways healthcare professionals benefit:
- Less scheduling conflicts
- Reduced time spent without key staff members
- Lower continuing education costs
What’s more, medical facilities that save on continuing education by turning to online CME may potentially benefit from lowered lengths of stays and lower readmissions. One study in particular found that almost 50% of physicians who took online CME made more effective, evidence-based choices during clinical vignettes.
From an organizational perspective, there’s a lot to gain by turning to online CME courses.
Upcoming CME Conferences & Online Learning
Want to attend a live CME conference or complete an online course from the comfort of home?
At Continuing Education Company, we make your medical continuing education fun, engaging, and relevant. Explore our conference calendar to view upcoming dates and destinations as well as CME365™ online courses and live streaming options.
For a limited time, take advantage of our Special Offer: attend one of our live conferences in person and receive a FREE online 15 credit CME course from CME365™.