A Case for Early Diagnosis

Target Audience
This activity is designed to meet the educational needs of a broad audience of health care providers including neurologists, MS subspecialists, primary care clinicians, ER providers, registered nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals involved in the treatment and management of black patients with MS.

Program Overview
Incidence rates of MS have been found to be higher in both black males and black females versus white males and white females. Disease progression is also significantly faster in black MS patients in both brain and retinal measures. Furthermore, African Americans are dying from MS at an earlier age, which suggests that MS burden weighs disproportionately across race demographics.

These observations suggest a need to identify and address barriers to appropriate MS care experienced by African American patients. Efforts to lower and overcome these and other barriers require recognition of the gaps in care as well as behavioral changes within the MS treater community to minimize initial treatment delays and attenuate disease progression.

Educational Objectives


FACULTY

Annette Howard, MD
Medical Director
Multiple Sclerosis Institute of Texas
Click here for biography

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) requires faculty, planners, and others in control of educational content to disclose all their financial relationships with ineligible companies. All identified conflicts of interest (COI) are thoroughly vetted and mitigated according to PIM policy.  PIM is committed to providing its learners with high quality accredited continuing education activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of an ineligible company.

The faculty reported the following relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities related to the educational content of this CE activity:

Annette Howard, MD

Consulting fees (ex: advisory boards): EMD Serono, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sanofi Genzyme
Fees for Non-CE Services Received Directly from an Ineligible Entity or their Agents (e.g., speakers’ bureaus): EMD Serono, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sanofi Genzyme

The PIM planners and others have nothing to disclose.
The MSAA planners and others have nothing to disclose.
The Impact Education, LLC® planners and others have nothing to disclose.

Method of Participation and Request for Credit

In order to obtain your CE certificate, please follow the steps below at the conclusion of the activity:

1) Complete the evaluation form
2) A CE certificate will be made available immediately to download and print.

For Pharmacists: Upon successfully completing the activity evaluation, you may immediately submit your CPE credit to the NABP CPE Monitor Service. This may require you to add or update the e-profile ID/date of birth information saved in your account. Credit must be uploaded to CPE Monitor within 30 days.

If you have questions regarding the certification of this activity, please contact PIM via email at inquiries@pimed.com.

Accreditation Information

Joint Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine, Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, and Impact Education, LLC®.  Postgraduate Institute for Medicine is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Credit Designation:

Physician Continuing Medical Education
The Postgraduate Institute for Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Continuing Nursing Education
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 0.25 contact hour.

Continuing Pharmacy Education
Postgraduate Institute for Medicine designates this continuing education activity for 0.25 contact hour (0.025 CEU) of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.
Universal Activity Number: JA4008162-9999-21-2787-H01-P
Type of Activity: Knowledge

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use
This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA.  The planners of this activity do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.  The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of the planners.  Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer
Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development.  The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management.  Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient's conditions and possible contraindications and/or dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer's product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

FEE INFORMATION
There is no fee for this educational activity.