Managing the Cost of C. Difficile Infection: Are You Spending More Than You Know? Expert Interview & Infographic

Release Date: April 15, 2021
Expiration Date: October 31, 2022
Estimated Time to Complete Activity: 0.5 hour
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EXPERT FACULTY


	James T. Kenney, RPh, MBA Founder and President JTKenney, LLC Click here for biography

Target Audience

This activity is designed to meet the educational needs of managed care pharmacy directors, clinical pharmacists, quality directors, medical directors, registered nurses, and other managed health care professionals.

Statement of Need/Program Overview
The incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection or CDI, has increased over the past 2 decades. CDI differs from most other infections because it generally occurs after treatment with antimicrobial therapy. Some of the most commonly associated agents that CDI is associated with include clindamycin, ampicillin, cephalosporins, and fluoroquinolones. It is estimated that CDI costs the U.S. health care system $6 billion every year and average costs per case are more than $20,000.

A CDI expert will review treatment options and engage in peer-to-peer dialogue regarding recent developments and therapeutic recommendations. In addition, the faculty panel, including managed care experts, will review guideline-based recommendations to elucidate avoidable costs related to the management of CDI that may impact benefit design and coverage decision-making. Real-world case scenarios will be used to illustrate managed care best practices to evaluate all facets of medical and pharmacy management with initial and recurrent CDI, including assessment of existing and emerging therapies, and appropriate care management strategies to improve overall clinical and economic outcomes.

Educational Objectives
After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:

Review the epidemiology and prevalence of CDI
Evaluate novel treatment options for primary and recurrent CDI
Apply guideline-based management strategies for CDI
Illustrate avoidable costs related to CDI treatment management that can impact benefit design and coverage decision-making

Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Medical Education Resources (MER) and Impact Education, LLC. MER 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.

Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE)
This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 0.5 Interprofessional continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.

Physician Credit

Medical Education Resources designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nursing Credit

Medical Education Resources designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 0.5 ANCC nursing contact hours. Nurses will be awarded contact hours upon successful completion of the activity.

Medical Education Resources is a provider of continuing nursing education by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #CEP 12299, for 0.5 contact hours.

Pharmacy Credit

Medical Education Resources (MER) designates this continuing education activity for 0.5 contact hour (0.05 CEUs) of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

(Universal Program Number – JA0003680-9999-21-203-H01-P

This activity is certified as Knowledge-based CPE.

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.

DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Medical Education Resources ensures balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all our educational activities. In accordance with this policy, MER identifies conflicts of interest with its instructors, content managers, and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of an activity. Conflicts are resolved by MER to ensure that all scientific research referred to, reported, or used in a continuing education activity conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis. MER is committed to providing its learners with high-quality activities that promote improvements or quality in health care and not the business interest of a commercial interest.

The faculty reported the following financial relationships with commercial interests whose products or services may be mentioned in this activity:

*Name of Faculty*	*Reported Financial Relationship*
James T. Kenney, RPh, MBA	No financial interest/relationships relating to the topic of this activity.

The content managers reported the following financial relationships with commercial interests whose products or services may be mentioned in this activity:

*Name of Content Manager*	*Reported Financial Relationship*
MER Content Managers	No financial relationships to disclose.
Impact Education, LLC Staff	No financial relationships to disclose.

DISCLAIMER
The content and views presented in this educational activity are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Medical Education Resources, Impact Education, LLC, and/or Merck & Co., Inc. The authors have disclosed if there is any discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA in their presentations. Before prescribing any medicine, primary references and full prescribing information should be consulted. 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 on dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management.

METHOD OF PARTICIPATION AND REQUEST FOR CREDIT
There are no fees for participating and receiving CME/CE credit for this activity. During the period April 15, 2021 through October 31, 2022, participants must 1) read the learning objectives and faculty disclosures; 2) study the educational activity; 3) successfully complete the post-test with a score of 70% or better; 4) and complete the evaluation form. Upon completion of the full CME/CE activity, your certificate will be made available immediately to download and print.

For Pharmacists: Upon successfully completing the post-test with a score of 70% or better and the activity evaluation form, 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.

MEDIA
Internet

FEE INFORMATION
There is no fee for this educational activity.