OptimalCare—Combining Evidence and Technology to Drive Quality and Eliminate Low-Value Care

Activity description
Wasted and harmful care is highly prevalent in the US health system, accounting for suboptimal patient outcomes and up to one-third of all health care expenditures. Although this critical issue is widely discussed, solutions to the problem are infrequently implemented. Physician-led organizations are uniquely positioned to solve this problem. This activity will provide learners with successful approaches to address the issues of wasted and harmful care in order to decrease unnecessary expenditures and improve patient outcomes. The discussion will focus on the following solutions to wasted and harmful care:

  • The rapid translation of evidenced-based medicine (EBM) into clinical practice
  • Technological solutions to algorithm deployment, shared decision-making and patient-reported outcomes
  • The use of high-quality data to help choose the optimal provider and site of service

Provided by
This activity is provided by Optum Health Education and OptumLabs.

Commercial support
No commercial support was received for this activity.
 
Required hardware/software
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Target Audience

This activity is designed to meet the educational needs of nurses, nurse practitioners, PAs, physicians, psychologists, social workers and other HCPs who have an interest in the issue of wasted and harmful care.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this educational activity, participants should be able to:

  • Define actions and practices that constitute wasted and harmful care, as well as modalities that can replace these care routines
  • Describe how to rapidly translate high-quality EBM into daily practice
  • Recognize how to leverage technology to utilize clinical algorithms, shared decision-making and patient-reported outcomes to drive care decisions
  • Identify the role of pharmaco-economics in pharmaceutical prescribing
  • Define how the use of analytics to measure HCP utilization of EBM and overall cost efficiency drives improved care quality and cost outcomes
Activity summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 ACPE - Pharmacists
  • 1.00 ACPE - Pharmacy Technicians
  • 1.00 AMA - Physicians
  • 1.00 ANCC - Nurses
  • 1.00 APA - Psychologists
  • 1.00 Attendance - General Attendance
  • 1.00 ASWB - Social Workers
Activity opens: 
04/21/2021
Activity expires: 
04/21/2024
Rating: 
0

Presenter

Ken Cohen, MD, FACP 
Executive Director Translational Research 
OptumLabs
Senior National Medical Director, OptumCare

About the presenter

Dr. Kenneth Cohen is an experienced physician leader, practicing internist and researcher who has attained national recognition for health care quality improvement, advancing evidence-based medicine and delivering value-based care. The OptimalCare model he created is based on rapid translation of clinical research to clinical practice and is now the foundational care model of the OptumCare medical groups. He served as Chief Medical Officer at New West Physicians for 25 years before transitioning to his new roles with OptumLabs and OptumCare.

Dr. Cohen has received awards of recognition and distinction for teaching, including the Lutheran Medical Center Physician of the Year award in 2011. Under his stewardship, New West Physicians was awarded the AMGA Acclaim award in 2015 and the Million Hearts Hypertension Champion Award in 2017. Dr. Cohen currently sits on the board of directors of America’s Physician Groups.

He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Cohen holds degrees from Dickinson College and Hahnemann University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha honor societies.

Activity planners
Sarah Chart, RN
Vice President
OptumHealth Education

Elizabeth Albert, MD
Clinical Activity Manager
OptumHealth Education

Disclosures of relevant financial relationships
In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's (ACCME) Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, OptumHealth Education (OHE) requires all those in control of educational content to disclose their financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. Ineligible companies are defined by the ACCME as companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care products used by or on patients. Individuals must disclose all financial relationships, regardless of the amount, with ineligible companies and regardless of their view of the relevance of the relationship to the education. OHE ensures that the content is independent of commercial bias.

Dr. Cohen has disclosed that he serves on an advisory board for Pfizer.

Method for calculating CE credit
CE credit was calculated by the complexity of content.

Accreditation statement
Joint Provider LogoIn support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Optum Health Education and UnitedHealth Group. Optum Health Education 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 health care team.

Credit designation statements
Interprofessional CEThis activity was planned by and for the health care team, and learners will receive 1.00 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.

Nurses
The participant will be awarded up to 1.00 contact hour(s) of credit for attendance and completion of supplemental materials.

Nurse practitioners
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME and ANCC.

Pharmacists/Pharmacy technicians
This activity is approved for 1.00 contact hour ([0.10] CEU) in states that recognize ACPE.
Attending the full program will earn 1.00 contact hour.
Unique Activity Number(s): JA0007123-9999-21-153-H04-P/T

Physicians
Optum Health Education designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s). Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

PAs
The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME.

Psychologists
Optum Health Education is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to offer continuing education for psychologists. Optum Health Education maintains responsibility for this program. 1.00 CE hour.

Social workers
ACE LogoAs a Jointly Accredited Organization, Optum Health Education is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Optum Health Education maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 1.00 enduring continuing education credits.

Attendance
A certificate of attendance will be provided to learners upon completion of activity requirements, enabling participants to register with licensing boards or associations that have not been preapproved for credits. To apply for credit types not listed above, participants should use the procedure established by the specific organization from which they wish to obtain credit.

Available Credit

  • 1.00 ACPE - Pharmacists
  • 1.00 ACPE - Pharmacy Technicians
  • 1.00 AMA - Physicians
  • 1.00 ANCC - Nurses
  • 1.00 APA - Psychologists
  • 1.00 Attendance - General Attendance
  • 1.00 ASWB - Social Workers
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