Are You Up to Date on Your Flu Season Response?

Target Audience

The educational design of this activity addresses the needs of primary Care MDs, NPs, and PAs; secondary audience of pediatricians and geriatricians involved in the treatment of patients with influenza.

Statement of Need/Program Overview

Influenza is a highly contagious seasonal viral infection that affects all age cohorts. While vaccination is still the best way to prevent influenza-associated illness, under-vaccination and other factors contribute to significant morbidity and mortality during influenza season. Timely use of influenza antiviral therapies can play a critical role in reducing disease severity, duration, and transmission, and therapy indications have recently expanded. Are You Up to Date on Your Flu Season Response? Flexing Your Clinical Management Muscles will give primary care providers and other frontline providers the foundational knowledge to differentiate flu vs non-flu presentations, identify adults and children at high risk of disease progression/severity, apply guidelines for the use antiviral therapies for treatment and prophylaxis, and educate patients/parents regarding influenza-related morbidity/mortality and the potential benefits of antiviral medications. This CME Circuit Training™ activity is designed to flex your knowledge and build your clinical management muscles. Utilizing a unique multimedia platform that consists of four brief circuits, our faculty will guide you through a series of workouts that will boost your endurance and strengthen your expertise to prepare you for influenza season.

Educational Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:

• Discuss influenza epidemiology, CDC guidelines for influenza testing, and risk-stratification of primary care patients
• Manage patients with FDA-approved antivirals for influenza treatment and postexposure prophylaxis based on indications, relative efficacies, and other prescribing considerations
• Proactively implement influenza-season strategies and algorithms for patient and staff education, patient triage, and antiviral medication access

Faculty

Imelda Reyes, DNP, MPH, APRN, FAANP
Clinical Professor
School of Nursing
UT Health Rio Grande Valley
Harlingen, Texas

Charles P. Vega, MD, FAAFP
Clinical Professor, Family Medicine
Director, UC Irvine Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community
Associate Dean, School of Medicine
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California

Physician Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Global Education Group (Global) and Integritas Communications.  Global is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physician Credit Designation

Global designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nurse Practitioner Continuing Education

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Accreditation Standards of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) through the joint providership of Global and Integritas Communications. Global is accredited by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as an approved provider of nurse practitioner continuing education. Provider number: 110121. This activity is approved for 0.75 contact hour(s) (which includes 0.2 hour(s) of pharmacology).

Instructions to Receive Credit

In order to receive credit for this activity, the participant must complete the preactivity questionnaire, score 75% or better on the posttest, and complete the program evaluation.

Global Contact Information

For information about the accreditation of this program, please contact Global at 303-395-1782 or cme@globaleducationgroup.com.

Fee Information& Refund/Cancellation Policy

There is no fee for this educational activity.

Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest

Global adheres to the policies and guidelines, including the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited CE, set forth to providers by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and all other professional organizations, as applicable, stating those activities where continuing education credits are awarded must be balanced, independent, objective, and scientifically rigorous. All persons in a position to control the content of an accredited continuing education program provided by Global are required to disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible company within the past 24 months to Global.  All financial relationships reported are identified as relevant and mitigated by Global in accordance with the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited CE in advance of delivery of the activity to learners. The content of this activity was vetted by Global to assure objectivity and that the activity is free of commercial bias. 

All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.

The faculty have the following relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies:

Imelda Reyes, DNP, MPH, APRN, FAANP:  Nothing to disclose

Charles P. Vega, MD, FAAFP:  Consulting Fee: Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline

The following planners and managers have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies:

Kristin Delisi, NP, Lindsay Borvansky, Andrea Funk, Liddy Knight, Ashley Cann, Lauren Sinclair, Susan Daniels, Gena Dolson, MS, Jim Kappler, PhD

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. Global and Integritas Communications do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications. 

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of any organization associated with this activity. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer

Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of patient conditions and possible contraindications on dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

System Requirement