S1819 Certified Medical Education Leads to Changes in Clinical Practice Regarding Selection of Treatments for IBD

Introduction: Treatment options for biologic-experienced patients with moderate to severely active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) include targeted agents such as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors. The goal of this study was to investigate if participation in online certified medical education (CME) in the form of virtual patient simulations resulted in changes in treatment selection among learners in comparison to a matched control cohort. Methods: A retrospective, pre/post, test/control study examined changes in the treatment of patients with IBD by NPI-certified gastroenterologists and NPs/PAs who specialize in gastroenterology. The intervention group (CME) participated in a CME activity (n = 706) and their practices were compared with a matched control group of non-learners (n = 706) contained within the same clinician database. Learners and controls were matched based on exposed month, specialty, geography, and volume of patients with IBD. The intervention period was May to October 2024 and data were collected from June 2024 to January 2025. An independent t-test was used to assess significance (*P < .05). Results: We report on data from Gastroenterologists (CME, n = 605; Control n = 605) and NP/PAs (CME, n = 82; Control, n = 82). In the 3 months after participation, 19 more patients with IBD (+22%*) were treated with JAK inhibitors among the CME group (n = 114 patients) than in the Control group (n = 95 patients). Seventeen more patients with IBD seen in the community setting (+35%*) were treated with JAK inhibitors among the CME group (n = 65 patients) vs in the Control group (n = 48 patients) in the 3 month period following participation. This correlated with a (+14) increase in the number of community clinicians using JAK inhibitors in the CME group (n = 51) compared to the control group (n = 37). Conclusion: Participation in online virtual patient simulation CME resulted in meaningful changes in clinician practices related to the use of JAK inhibitors for biologic-exposed patients with IBD. CME resulted in greater practice changes among community practitioners compared with academic learners. The evaluation time following CME education was short, and a longer follow-up time is anticipated to results in greater practice changes.