(19.10) Harnessing Continuing Medical Education to Simultaneously Address Advances in the Management of Patients with Thyroid Eye Disease and Identify Persisting Educational Needs

Clinical advances have led to improvements in the diagnosis and management of patients with thyroid eye disease (TED), yet clinicians who care for these patients remain largely unaware of these advances and how they can improve patient outcomes.  Targeted CME is an effective method to address knowledge and practice gaps as well as garner insights into topics that continue to challenge the subsets of specialists involved in patient care.  

Methods: Since 2020, Vindico Medical Education provided 28 CME activities designed to educate endocrinologists, ophthalmologists, and optometrists on advances in the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of TED. Pre-, intra-, and post-activity assessments were used to collect information regarding baseline knowledge and practice patterns across these audiences as well as the impact of the education on knowledge and skills. Assessments were scored in aggregate and at the individual level to compare between specialty audiences.

Results: As of September 2023, 25,412 clinicians had participated in the education. In the first year of education, baseline knowledge was higher among ophthalmologists vs endocrinologists or optometrists regarding diagnosis and assessment, but not treatment. However, as the educational focus shifted to recognition of heterogeneous patterns in 2022, knowledge was low in all cohorts. Similarly, knowledge gaps regarding conventional vs new treatment options were closed in 2022, but as content shifted in 2023 new knowledge gaps were identified regarding treatment individualization based on real world evidence and the use of multispecialty and interprofessional care. Still, from 2021-2023, all specialty cohorts showed improvements in behaviors related to the use of best practices for patient identification and treatment selection, including a 2-fold increase in patients using newer treatment options. One area where learners did not show improvements, however, was regarding the use of baseline auditory screening for patients receiving IGF-1R inhibitors. HCPs also noted persisting challenges regarding the management of flares or recurrence, variation in international approaches to care, and managing patients with severe disease.

Discussion/Conclusion: Targeted CE improved knowledge and skills related to the management of patients with TED. It also elucidated persisting educational needs among specific specialty audiences that can be used to tailor future educational efforts, particularly as it relates to treatment individualization and multispecialty and interprofessional care.