The LCF Research (LCF) Continuing Professional Education (CPE) unit operates as a supporting member of the broader healthcare community, partnering with a variety of organizations to conduct research and education and to promote health information technology solutions to improve health care in our city, region, and nation. As a partner with the Health Services Research and Health Information Technology Divisions of LCF, the CPE unit will help design, implement, and evaluate evidence-based educational interventions that are appropriate for the learner whose behavior we seek to influence.

Purpose: The purpose of the LCF Research Continuing Professional Education program is to provide high-quality, evidence-based educational opportunities that are designed to advance competence (knowledge with a plan to implement), enhance performance in practice, promote patient safety, and where possible improve patient outcomes in the populations served by the healthcare professionals that we serve.

Target Audience: As an adjunct unit within a research division, funded by various grants, joint sponsorship fees, and registration fees, we serve a local, regional, and national population of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, allied health personnel, administrators, scientists, and researchers from a variety of organizations.

Types of Activities Provided: The CPE unit is able to provide a broad scope of activities, including live courses for individuals from across the U.S., live symposia for local and regional groups of clinicians, live (case-based and journal-based) regularly scheduled series within partnering delivery systems, performance improvement projects by individuals and groups, and web-based enduring materials for a national audience.

Content: LCF CPE endeavors to maintain a high degree of integrity, flexibility, and nimble responsiveness to the needs of physicians, researchers, and ancillary healthcare professionals that we serve. Our educational offerings include a variety of topics using the best evidence for treatment recommendations in areas such as chronic disease management, early cancer detection, healthcare disparities, and other areas of medicine as applied research and health information technology projects are identified.

Expected Results: We expect that our learners will report that they have attained the stated learning objectives for any given credit-designated activity and in some cases that they have a new strategy for implementing knowledge acquired in the learning activity. We further anticipate that whenever possible to follow up with learners, as with a post activity survey or as part of a quality initiative or research project, there will be self-reported and/or objectively measurable gains in the application of new knowledge, performance in practice, and/or patient outcomes.