Physicians can earn a total of 8.5 hours of CME credits with the AMA’s “Digital Health Care CME Course” that examines how virtual visits, remote surgery and other digital health tools can help physicians reach patients—especially those in rural or isolated areas—while also serving as a vehicle to improve health equity.
The course is part of the AMA Ed Hub™️, an online learning platform that brings together high-quality CME, maintenance of certification, and educational content from trusted sources with automated credit tracking and reporting for some state and specialty boards. Learn more about AMA CME accreditation.
Nearly three-quarters of physicians participating in an AMA survey reported that telehealth was used in their practices—nearly three times the amount in 2018, showing that telehealth remains widely available and supporting the need for policies that continue to support this vital mode of accessing care.
Videoconferencing with patients has been the main driver for change, according to the report. Telehealth services are discussed in the second part of the series, and it’s noted how telehealth use has blossomed thanks to the waiver of outdated regulations promulgated before widespread use of cellular phones. That waiver will expire Dec. 31 unless Congress acts.
Learn how the AMA is fighting for legislation to permanently fix the restrictions on telehealth coverage and payment, supporting telehealth as a vital way for patients to access high-quality care.
The “Digital Health Care CME Course” focuses on four separate areas, as detailed below.
-
“Technology in Health Care”
- This section begins with a learning activity originally posted in JAMA featuring hospitalist Robert Wachter, MD, from the University of California, San Francisco, examining whether generative augmented intelligence (AI) will deliver on its promise in health care. Dr. Wachter notes that, unlike previous digital innovations, generative AI is “capable” of delivering on its promise for meaningful improvement, in part because complimentary innovations are more advanced.
-
“Telehealth”
- This section includes an “AMA STEPS Forward® Podcast” episode featuring a review of an AMA case study summarizing Ochsner Health’s Hypertension Digital Medicine Program.
- “It’s hitting on all cylinders,” says Richard Milani, MD, the New Orleans-based system’s chief clinical transformational, noting that it has “very high levels” of patient satisfaction, improved adherence to medication regimens and saves Medicare $350 per member per month in health care costs.
- Ochsner Health is a member of the AMA Health System Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
-
-
“Remote and Robotic Applications in the Surgical Field”
- This section on digital surgical innovations begins with a learning activity from JAMA Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery that details a retrospective review of two iterations of robot-assisted surgery technology used at a large academic medical center. The activity shares learning experiences and clinical data in an effort to optimize technical efficiency and clinical care.
-
“Equity in Digital Health”
- This section includes two modules developed by the AMA Center for Health Equity and the University of California, San Francisco that discuss centering equity in digital health solution evaluation, design and implementation.
- The module on centering equity in digital health solution design describes how an equity-first approach to digital health solution development can be applied through meaningful engagement with—and formal accountability to—historically marginalized user communities across all phases of the design process.
The AMA has created resources to help guide physicians practices through the successful implementation of telehealth and remote patient monitoring.
