AXIS Medical Education, the Sarcoma Foundation of America, and RealCME Announce a Collaborative Partnership to Provide Innovative Non-GIST Soft-Tissue Sarcoma Education, Tools, and Resources for Clinicians in Two Distinct Settings
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AXIS Medical Education (AXIS), the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA), and RealCME today announced the creation of a collaborative partnership to support a comprehensive non–gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) program featuring customized live education coupled with comprehensive tools and resources for two distinct audiences: clinicians in large community cancer centers and clinicians in sarcoma specialty centers across the United States.
"Clinicians in community cancer centers and multidisciplinary sarcoma treatment centers each have unique educational needs related to optimal care for patients with non-GIST STS," said Isabelle Vacher, Vice President, Educational Strategy, AXIS. Non-GIST STSs have a low incidence and comprise a heterogeneous disease—one that community clinicians will rarely see. This often results in delays in diagnosis and subsequent referral to centers specializing in sarcoma. Data clearly show that treatment of STS is suboptimal in the community care setting and that prompt referral to a specialist center is critical to maximizing short- and long-term patient outcomes. The NCCN Guidelines® highlight this necessity.
Clinicians in community cancer centers need education that helps them recognize symptoms and provide prompt diagnosis, support, and referral to a sarcoma specialty center. Clinicians in sarcoma specialty centers need education that helps them incorporate a strong knowledge of new and emerging therapies into treatment considerations and discussions with patients and families about the risks and benefits of their options. Ideally, clinicians in this setting should also be using shared decision-making approaches that incorporate the unique goals and values of each patient in final treatment decisions.
"The SFA is very pleased to announce this partnership, which contributes to our mission to increase awareness of the disease and advocates for patients with sarcoma" said Bert E. Thomas IV, PhD, MBA, CEO Sarcoma Foundation of America. "Our decision to partner with AXIS was based on their reputation for designing and delivering innovative, quality continuing education (CE) for oncology clinicians."
Working with AXIS and the SFA, RealCME will assess the impact of the program in a specially designed outcomes study designed to measure both groups' net gains across all learning domains, as well as changes in learners' retention levels longitudinally over an extended follow-up period. The use of uniquely designed assessment tools will allow for a very granular examination of practice behavior over the study period and these results will be submitted for publication. "This is a unique and important initiative that is designed to enhance the knowledge, skills, competence, and performance of the healthcare team, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that patients with non-GIST sarcoma receive quality care that results in improved outcomes," said Ronald Viggiani, MD, AXIS Medical Director.
The programs are expected to launch in September 2016 and run through March 2017.
For more information, contact:
Isabelle Vacher, Vice President, Educational Strategy, [email protected]
Linda Gracie-King, MS, Managing Partner, AXIS Medical Education, Inc., [email protected]
These activities are supported by an educational grant from Lilly. For further information concerning Lilly grant funding, visit www.lillygrantoffice.com
About AXIS Medical Education, Inc.
AXIS Medical Education is an innovative, nationally recognized Joint Accreditation provider of live and enduring continuing education for healthcare professionals, with a focus on developing education that improves interprofessional collaborative practice in healthcare delivery. Joint Accreditation is a collaboration of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). AXIS also incorporates a strong focus on shared decision making and patient/family education into many programs, and includes 6 full-time employees who are certified master trainers for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality SHARE approach.
To learn more, visit Axis online at www.AXISMedEd.com.
About The Sarcoma Foundation of America
The mission of the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA) is to advocate for sarcoma patients by funding research, by educating patients and caregivers and by increasing awareness about the disease. The organization raises money to privately fund grants for sarcoma researchers and conducts education and advocacy efforts on behalf of sarcoma patients. Since its inception, the SFA has invested over $6 million in research; by awarding over 87 SFA Sarcoma Research Grants, managing the SFA-founded Sarcoma Patient Registry, and with the Conquer Cancer Foundation, awarding six Young Investigator Awards, two Advanced Clinical Research Awards, and one Career Development Award.
To learn more, visit: www.curesarcoma.org
About RealCME
RealCME, a HealthCourse company, has brought together successful pioneers from within the medical e-learning community, as well as forward-thinking technologists and analysts, to develop a robust educational technology platform and associated data management, reporting, and analytic tools for use by CME providers. RealCME is focused on using educational technology to spread the adoption of innovations and best practices. The RealCME platform enables the development, publishing, delivery, and measuring of educational interventions and accelerates the education and alignment of caregivers regarding more effective implementation of best practices, new care delivery models and processes for coordinating patient care.
To learn more, visit: www.healthcourse.com
SOURCE AXIS Medical Education, Inc.
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