C. difficile Infection: Improving Provider-Patient Communication to Hasten Diagnosis and Treatment

Release Date: Thursday, October 31, 2019
Expiration Date: Saturday, October 31, 2020

Educational Overview
C. difficile infection (CDI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and mortality in the US. CDI is also becoming a growing concern in the community and long-term care facilities as the incidence of these infections has increased even among individuals with no exposure to acute care settings. With the increasing prevalence of CDI in the community, individuals with CDI symptoms are presenting to their primary care providers (PCPs) more frequently. A timely diagnosis of CDI is critical not only in improving patient outcomes but also in preventing the spread of infection. PCPs may not be fully knowledgeable in recognizing the signs and symptoms of CDI along with differentiating CDI from other conditions with similar presentations (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, or other infectious diarrheal condition). PCPs must be equipped to communicate effectively with patients to fully understand their symptoms, disease history, and risk factors to hasten a proper diagnosis and initiate appropriate therapeutic options. PCPs should be aware of appropriate laboratory tests and how to interpret them to make a differential diagnosis and recognize when referral to a specialist or acute care setting is necessary.

This program empowers physicians and other healthcare professionals at the front-line of patient care with the knowledge and tools needed to detect and diagnose patients presenting with symptoms of C. difficile infection. Participants will build awareness of how to make an accurate and timely diagnosis of CDI through improved communication and evaluation. This activity also reviews the latest guideline recommendations in the management of CDI.

Target Audience
This activity is designed to empower physicians and other healthcare professionals at the front-line of patient care with the knowledge and tools needed to detect and diagnose patients presenting with symptoms of C. difficile infection.

Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of the educational activity, the learner should be able to:

Utilize communication and evaluation techniques to aid in the early detection of C. difficile infection
Identify and interpret diagnostic tests to help differentiate
C. difficile infection from other gastrointestinal disorders
Evaluate current therapeutic options available for the management of C. difficile infection

Educational Format

This online presentation reviews the latest guideline recommendations in the management of CDI as well as discusses when referral to a specialist or acute care setting is needed. Participants will build awareness of how to make an accurate and timely diagnosis of CDI through improved communication and evaluation.

Building Awareness and Recognition of CDI in the Community
- Incidence of CDI in community settings
- Identifying the signs and symptoms of CDI
- How to differentiate CDI from other
gastrointestinal disorders

Diagnostic and Treatment Approaches for Your Patients with Suspected CDI
- Selection and interpretation of C. difficile laboratory tests
- Overview of current treatment options for CDI
- Knowing when to refer to a specialist

Faculty

Carl V. Crawford, Jr., MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Program Director, Fellowship in Gastroenterology
& Hepatology
Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, NY

Physicians
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of the Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd. Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Center for Independent Healthcare Education designates this Enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician Assistants
AAPA accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for the PRA from organizations accredited by ACCME.

Nurse Practitioners
Nurse Practitioners will receive certificate of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ as this is an ACCME accredited program and its accreditation is recognized by Nurse Practitioner boards

For questions regarding accreditation, please contact info@jointsponsor.com

Method of Participation and Instruction for Credit

Review the entire CME information including target audience, learning objectives, and disclosures.
Review the activity in its entirety.
Complete the Online Post Test, Evaluation, and Credit Application form
Please note that to receive credit you must achieve a score of at least 70%.
Certificate of Credit will be emailed within 4 weeks of successful completion of the activity.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
In accordance with policies set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Center for Independent Healthcare Education requires all faculty members and spouses/significant others with an opportunity to affect the content of a continuing education activity to disclose any relevant financial relationships during the past 12 months with commercial interests. A commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, reselling or distributing health care goods or services consumed by or used on patients. Relationships with commercial interests and conflicts of interest resulting from those relationships must be revealed to the audience and resolved prior to the activity.

Relevant relationships include roles such as speaker, author, consultant, independent contractor (including research), employee, investor, advisory committee member, board member, review panelist, and investigator. If a potential speaker or author indicates a possible conflict of interest, the conflict will be resolved by choosing another speaker or author for that topical area, or the slides, handouts, and/or monograph will be reviewed and approved by a qualified commercially-disinterested peer.

Disclosures
Dr. Carl V. Crawford has relevant financial relationships with the following commercial interests:
Grant/Research Support: Finch Therapeutics, Inc., AGA, Summit, Inc.
Speakers Bureau: RedHill, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc.
Dr. Crawford discusses the following off-label uses: Metronidazole, FMT, tigecycline

No (other) speakers, authors, planners or content reviewers have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Content review confirmed that the content was developed in a fair, balanced manner free from commercial bias. Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone commercial bias in any presentation, but it is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.

Fee
There is no fee to participate in this activity.

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Joint Providership
This activity is jointly provided by Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd.

Commercial Support
This activity is supported by an educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc.

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