B41-32 The Power of Reinforcement in Accredited Education on the Management of Interstitial Lung Disease-Associated Pulmonary Hypertension

Abstract Rationale Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in the setting of interstitial lung disease (ILD), classified as Group 3 PH, is associated with poor prognosis, underscoring the need for early diagnosis and treatment. However, patients are often diagnosed at advanced stages and inadequately managed. Methods We developed a series of 2 CME activities to assess and address current gaps: • Clinical Practice Assessment (CPA): A 25-question, online, survey including knowledge-, competence-, and confidence-based questions with answer explanations (available at https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/11692013), which launched 2/2024, and data were collected 5/2024. • Expert Series (ES): A video-based, online activity divided into 4 presentations with different speakers and synchronized slides (available at https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/1002407). Education effects were assessed using a 3-question, repeated pairs, pre-assessment/post-assessment study design with one question assessing confidence. Differences from pre- to post-assessment were evaluated using the McNemar’s test. P ≤ 05 is the significance level. This activity launched 5/2025, and data collected 8/2025. We then compared rates of correct answer choices for those who participated in both the CPA and ES versus only in the ES. Results CPA: A total of 270 physicians, including 43% cardiologists and 57% pulmonologists completed all 25 questions. 76% were unaware that ILD-PH has the worst prognosis amongst all PH groups; knowledge of screening tests was poor with 32% cardiologists and 22% pulmonologists not recognizing transthoracic echocardiography as the most common PH screening method. There were particularly low levels of knowledge and competence on pharmacotherapy selection and familiarity with clinical data across several questions. Only 16-48% of cardiologists and 14-50% of pulmonologists were able to correctly answer clinical data questions. ES: A total of 578 physicians, including 53% cardiologists and 47% pulmonologists completed all pre- and post-assessment questions. Overall significant improvements were seen for cardiologists (correct response rate of 41% at pre-assessment vs 90% at post-assessment; P.001, Cohen’s d = 1.22), and pulmonologists (52% correct at pre-assessment vs 57% at post-assessment; P.001, Cohen’s d = 1.3). When comparing cohorts who participated in both programs versus only the ES, we found higher baseline knowledge in the CPA + ES versus ES only cohort (Figure).After participating in the ES, 28% of pulmonologists and 36% of cardiologists had measurable improved confidence related to selecting an evidence-based therapy for ILD-PH. Conclusions This study demonstrates the impact of online, multi-component education in ILD-PH, and the critical importance of education reinforcement, which may lead to earlier recognition of PH in ILD and better evidence-based management. This abstract is funded by: Medscape Education; related education supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Ferrer