National Jewish Health & Partners Recognized for Continuing Medical Education

OCTOBER 15, 2012

DENVER — The National Jewish Health Office of Professional Education has been recognized for a unique collaborative effort to increase use of spirometry to diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Colorado Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (CACME) presented its 2012 Best Practice in Collaboration Award to National Jewish Health for the continuing medical education program Making the Right Diagnosis:The Need for Spirometry.

 

National Jewish Health, the National Medical Association (NMA) and the COPD Foundation jointly developed the program for the NMA’s member physicians. The NMA is the nation’s oldest and largest organization representing African American physicians and health professionals in the United States. The COPD Foundation is a patient advocacy, education, and public awareness organization. Their work was a unique collaboration among an academic medical center, a national association, and a patient advocacy group, and was funded by educational grants from Merck, Pfizer, and Forest.

National Jewish Health pulmonologist Barry Make, MD, and Michael Foggs, MD, of the NMA, instructed physicians how to better diagnose COPD with the help of breathing tests known as spirometry.

“The Outstanding CME Activity award is an acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication Dr. Make, the National Jewish Health Professional Education staff, Dr. Foggs, and the NMA leadership and members all demonstrated in organizing quality programs for the medical community, which change provider behavior and improve patient outcomes,” said Andrea Harshman, MHA, CCMEP, CMP, Director of Professional Education at National Jewish Health.

Michael B. Foggs, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, FCCP, Chief of Allergy & Immunology at the Advocate Medical Group, President-Elect of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and past Chair of the NMA’s Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Section, stated “This model of collaboration between academia, a lay organization, and a national organization representing caregivers who take care of America's sickest and most challenged patient populations may be unprecedented in this sustainable fashion and is deserving of national recognition."

National Jewish Health is known worldwide for treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders, and for groundbreaking medical research. Founded in 1899 as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish remains the only health care organization in the world dedicated exclusively to these disorders. Since 1998, U.S. News & World Report has ranked National Jewish Health the #1 respiratory hospital in the nation.

National Jewish Health is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

National Medical Association

The National Medical Association (NMA) is the largest and oldest national organization representing African American physicians and their patients in the United States. The NMA is a 501(c) (3) national professional and scientific organization representing the interests of more than 50,000 African American physicians and the patients they serve.  The NMA is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

COPD Foundation

The mission of the COPD Foundation is to develop and support programs which improve the quality of life through research, education, early diagnosis, and enhanced therapy for persons whose lives are impacted by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).