An interview with Jacqueline Myers, BSP, Academic Detailer, RxFiles and Pharmacist, Infectious Diseases Clinic, Saskatchewan Health Authority – Regina Area. RxFiles is an academic detailing program that provides objective, comparative drug information to clinicians. Jackie’s work at RxFiles includes academic detailing and resource development.

by Anna Morgan, MPH, RN, PMP, NaRCAD Program Manager

Tags: COVID 19, Conference, Detailing Visits, ​Substance Use

Anna: Hi Jackie! We’re excited to feature your work as a detailer. How did you first become involved in academic detailing?
 
Jackie: RxFiles has a bit of a celebrity following in Saskatchewan. The RxFiles books, which are packed with resources and drug comparison charts covering various clinical topics, are a coveted possession. You receive one book for free as a pharmacy student and everyone looks forward to that day because it has all the study material you could ever need in one place! I think it’s a dream of pharmacy students to get involved with RxFiles at some point in their career.
 
I started with RxFiles in 2019 while working within the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) Opioid Stewardship Program (OSP). A partnership was formed between the OSP and RxFiles and I was able to work both as a clinician at the Regina Chronic Pain Clinic and as a detailer providing education and creating content for RxFiles. My role in SHA has since changed, but I’ve continued detailing for the RxFiles team. 

Anna: Your passion for academic detailing is palpable. You could tell how much you love academic detailing during your presentation at NaRCAD2020. Can you tell us a little bit more about why this work is so important to you?
 
Jackie: It excites me to hear that--I’m so glad people see that I’m passionate about this. I’ve always admired musicians and artists for their passion, but I’ve never pictured myself as one of those people.
 
Many healthcare professionals - nurses, pharmacists, physicians, physiotherapists – we all go into this field because we like or love working with people. I’m no different than any other healthcare professional. I also really love to learn and then share that knowledge through teaching or mentoring. Academic detailing is such a cool combination of those things. You get to learn about a specific clinical topic, share your knowledge with another clinician and ultimately improve patient outcomes. It’s a really special process.
 
Anna: You’re absolutely right – it is special! What kind of support has been most helpful for you in becoming such a successful and passionate detailer?
 
Jackie: When I first started with RxFiles, the rest of the team was working on topics other than opioid prescribing  which left me feeling a bit isolated. Luckily, RxFiles has a great support system. My colleague Debbie, who I now consider my mentor, has been a huge resource for me. Even though we weren’t detailing on the same topic, I knew I could always talk through key messages with her, as well as recruitment strategies and other tips for approaching prescribers in our area.
 
I still know that I can always go to her for a debrief at the end of a visit, whether it’s a successful visit or a mess of a visit. Academic detailing has the potential to be really isolating, so having someone who understands and can help guide you through some of your challenges can be so beneficial.

​Anna: We know that academic detailing can be isolating, so it’s wonderful to hear how supportive your team is. On the days when you’ve had hard visits, I’m sure it’s difficult to feel that you’ve made an impact. How do you know that you’ve been successful in a detailing visit?
 
Jackie: At the 2019 NaRCAD Conference, I was amazed by the presentations and the data that different programs had collected to measure impact. When I first started detailing, I was very focused on the clinician I was detailing committing to make a change or doing something differently in their practice. Then I began to learn that success in academic detailing comes in two forms.
 
One is making an impact that changes a clinician’s practice and the second is establishing a connection and developing a relationship with a clinician. Sometimes making a connection will come first and then lead to making an impact, or sometimes they’ll occur simultaneously. Those are the two ways that I define success for myself in academic detailing.
 
Anna: That’s spot on – those are two of the main goals of academic detailing. Can you share any success stories from the field from a time when you felt you made an impact?

​Jackie: Of course! We are currently working on a special project to increase the number of buprenorphine/naloxone, or Suboxone, authorized prescribers in our province. One of the physicians I detailed was not yet authorized to prescribe buprenorphine/naloxone. He was a hospital physician and worked in internal medicine. He shared with me that he’d been thinking about becoming authorized and was apprehensive, but he saw a need for it in his patient population. A lot of his patients were being admitted for various diagnoses but would also have a concurrent substance use disorder that went unmanaged or ignored.
 
After our detailing session, he reached out to me. He described a patient that he had admitted for an infectious process who also had opioid use disorder. He said, “before our conversation, I would have normally treated the infection and probably ignored the opioid use disorder. It’s possible the patient may have left against medical advice, and I would have thought, ‘that was their choice, and I did my best.’ ”
 
After our detailing visit, he felt that he had the courage and the skills to discuss the patient’s opioid use disorder with them and think about what he could do as a physician to keep the patient comfortable and safe while they were in hospital. This honest conversation led the physician to speak with an authorized prescriber who was able to initiate the patient on buprenorphine/naloxone while they were admitted in the hospital. Even though the ask for this detailing project was to increase authorized prescribers, which he has not yet become, the interaction I had with this physician still led to a positive patient outcome and a better patient experience.
 
Anna: Thank you for sharing that - it’s so nice to hear stories from the field. Even if you don’t accomplish the messaging you were sent out to do, you’re still making an impact. Can you share a story where maybe you weren’t as successful and how were you able to bounce back from a situation that was challenging for you? 

​Jackie: During COVID, a physician reached out to request a virtual visit. We started our detailing session and I was beginning my needs assessment. I started asking about his practice and his familiarity with buprenorphine/naloxone. He said, “that’s a new weight loss drug, right?” From that point on, he was really sad that I wasn’t there to talk about a weight-loss drug. He was disinterested and I could tell he was distracted. I could hear him moving around papers through the phone and I could hear people talking in the background. I said, “if this is not a great time for you, we can definitely rebook” but he insisted that I continue. I could feel myself getting frustrated, but I finished the visit. I was able to deliver my key messages, but I left the visit not feeling great. There was no commitment to action or change and we didn’t build a connection. I felt like I wasted both of our time. In order to bounce back from something like that, I think you need to acknowledge that it will happen sometimes and debrief with colleagues who have been in your shoes. Then just pick yourself up and try again.
 
Anna: That’s great advice. It can be discouraging to have a visit like that, especially if your new in the field! One last question to wrap up - do you have any personal academic detailing goals for this upcoming year?
 
Jackie: Yes! I was previously detailing on only opioid-related topics. This year, my role has changed a bit and I will be detailing on various clinical topics and in a new geographical area with all new clinicians.  My primary goal is to connect and build relationships with these new clinicians. Fortunately, I’m taking over for a cherished detailer who is retiring and will help provide a warm handoff.
 
My secondary goal, which is a bit sillier, is to avoid troubles on the highway when we begin in-person visits again. The detailer I’m taking over for has had some very interesting car trouble heading out to his detailing visits. He’s met a lot of wildlife and his car was even once fried by lightning!
 
Anna: We certainly hope you’re able to avoid those highway issues! Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Jackie. Your stories are inspiring, and we can’t wait to connect again and hear about all your 2021 accomplishments.


Have thoughts on our DETAILS Blog posts?
You can head on over to our Discussion Forum to continue the conversation!

Biography. 
Jackie graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 2012. She has practiced in numerous clinical settings including community pharmacy, long term care, and hospital in the areas of internal medicine and opioid stewardship. Jackie is currently involved in the management of people living with HIV and substance use disorders at the Infectious Diseases Clinic in Regina. She also works with RxFiles providing academic detailing services and resource development.

Anna Morgan, MPH, RN, PMP, NaRCAD Program Manager

Tags: Conference, COVID-19, Deprescribing, Diabetes, E-Detailing, Elderly Care, Health Disparities, HIV/AIDS, International, Jerry Avorn, Mental Health 

Over 240 members of our worldwide community came together to be a part of something special--our 8th annual conference, and our first in a virtual setting. We were able to expand our reach and overcome barriers like travel time and financial constraints that have prevented our colleagues from attending previous conferences.
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There was a palpable sense of positivity, enthusiasm, and resilience, especially in a virtual space. We’re so proud of evaluations that cited a renewed sense of passion and commitment to AD based on the new lenses we applied to our programming, including comments about feeling “empowered” to continue this work in the year ahead (even amidst inevitable Zoom fatigue.) 

• Our director Mike Fischer reflected on how academic detailing can play a role in social determinants of health and health disparities.

• Presenters who’ve been working on diverse clinical interventions shared work and reflected on the ways AD can impact underserved patients, including veterans with mental health conditions and substance use disorder, as well as undocumented women who need access to comprehensive women’s health and related services.

• Interactive breakout workshops focused on peer-to-peer learning, with concentrations in AD for newcomers, using storytelling approaches with clinicians, and building program branding.

• A deprescribing plenary looked at the importance of specific approaches to detailing within long-term care settings to improve elderly patients’ health.

 

• In his annual “AD Talk”, NaRCAD co-director Jerry Avorn shared his perspectives on COVID-19’s impact on detailing, particularly a need to continue adapting to virtual AD sessions.

 

• For our e-Detailing panel, presenters shared nuggets of advice for those considering the pivot to virtual visits, including being flexible, having materials prepared ahead of the visit, and casting a wide net for provider recruitment.

• Another novel panel emphasized the key role of pharmacy to combat the opioid crisis, including a new lens on the impact of training pharmacy students in program planning and implementation.

• In a special presentation about detailing on Type 2 diabetes in ACOs and Community Health Centers, panelists reflected on the importance of preparing organizations for an AD campaign knowing your community’s unique identity, as well as highlighting community resources for providers AND patients.

• Three experienced detailers participated in a “live interview”, answering audience questions on recruitment, gaining access, defensive clinicians, how to maintain positivity, and more.

 

• A special presentation on HIV prevention and treatment gave attendees a look at robust data from the CDC, a new perspective on AD and HIV treatment through iART (immediate antiretroviral treatment), and evaluation strategies and results of a sexual health AD campaign.

 

• Global field presentations shared new perspectives on researching one-to-one visits vs. group visits in Norway, pivoting quickly to a COVID-19 campaign in Canada, and using the principles of academic detailing for patient education in Australia.

 

• Our new “Yearbook” session featured three new programs who have made impressive strides in their work over the past year, sharing 2021 plans for continued success.

With so many of you expressing a continued need around more of our peer working sessions, we’ll be focusing largely on that in 2021—we can’t wait to support your work this year. In the meantime, tell us what you need to make next year a success.

See you in 2021.
​

The NaRCAD Team




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Have thoughts on our DETAILS Blog posts?
You can head on over to our Discussion Forum to continue the conversation!

An interview with Vishal Kinkhabwala, MD, MPH, HIV Prevention Activities Coordinator, HIV Prevention Unit, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The overarching goal of the HIV Prevention Unit is to expand access to PrEP for patients throughout the state of Michigan.

by Anna Morgan, MPH, RN, PMP, NaRCAD Program Manager

Tags: Conference, Detailing Visits, E-Detailing, HIV/AIDS, PrEP

​Anna: We’re so happy to be catching up with you today, Vishal! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into the work of academic detailing?
 
Vishal: My background is in both public health and medicine. After finishing medical school, I realized that as much as I loved the clinical aspect, I wanted something that combined both my passions of public health and clinical medicine. My first job after graduating was in New York where I linked newly-diagnosed HIV patients into care. About a year later, I found an opportunity at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services that fit with what I ultimately wanted to do, HIV prevention.
 
My current work is focused on ending the HIV epidemic in Wayne County. One of my favorite parts of my job is detailing, which I do part-time. Our program officially began detailing in September of 2019. We’re in the process of making the jump to e-Detailing, but we’re still in the planning stages.

​Anna: Before we chat about how you and your team have been preparing for e-Detailing, let’s talk about how clinicians in Michigan have received your messages around PrEP. Were clinicians receptive to your detailing efforts when you were conducting in-person visits?
 
Vishal: Most clinicians that we detailed were either already familiar with PrEP or had that enthusiasm to learn about it. Many of the clinicians were excited about helping with MDHHS’s overall goal of increasing patient access to PrEP and talking about the associated HIV prevention counseling.
 
Clinicians were typically familiar with PrEP but weren’t aware of the nitty-gritty details of how to prescribe and manage it. A big part of what we discussed during our detailing visits was identifying which patients are candidates for PrEP. Our program’s purpose is to increase access, even if it’s just for one or two patients.

​Anna: It’s wonderful that the clinicians you’ve detailed have been supportive of your program’s goals. Transitioning to e-Detailing will certainly be easier knowing that you have support from clinicians. What have you learned so far from planning for e-Detailing?
 
Vishal: It’s been fun prepping for e-Detailing with our team. The big thing I’ve learned through networking with detailers from other jurisdictions is to be flexible and be prepared for any situation, especially in the virtual environment. You might have one idea of how your session will go, and it could go in the opposite direction, which is part of the charm of detailing. It’s about forming a connection and tailoring your methods to what the clinicians' and practices' needs are. I’m a relationship-oriented person, and I feel like that’s one of the most rewarding parts of doing this.
 
One of the things that also excites me about virtual education is the access to information right at your fingertips. For example, I was detailing a clinician about PrEP and HIV prevention last year who asked me, "Well, I have this issue with a lot of patients with STDs. Can you talk to me about STD treatments?" It was an in-person visit, so I only had the materials that I had brought with me, which were all focused on HIV.
 
The beauty of doing e-Detailing is that you can have resources pulled up and can get the information for the clinician almost instantaneously. As I said earlier, detailing is all about having that relationship, meeting the clinician where they're at, and serving their needs. Virtual education gives you another tool to be able to do just that.

​Anna: What a positive spin on e-Detailing! Speaking of sustainability, that’s the theme for our upcoming conference. You attended our conference last year in Boston and will be presenting at our virtual conference this year. What were some key takeaways from last year’s conference that you were able to bring back to your program and implement?
 
Vishal: Last year’s conference was my first exposure to NaRCAD and the world of detailing- it was honestly one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. It was great to be exposed to e-Detailing through the virtual detailing panel before it was even brought to the forefront during COVID.
 
Because I was hired a few months prior to the conference, I had not attended a training yet. I joined the “AD 101” breakout group, which was supremely helpful.  When I got home, I did mock detailing sessions with my colleague and reviewed all the resources on the NaRCAD website. I also practiced detailing on the stress balls I have in my office!

​Anna: It’s so nice to hear how impactful the conference was for you as a new detailer. We strive to include a diverse audience of new and veteran detailers each year. What are you looking forward to most about this year’s conference?
 
Vishal: There are so many absolute rock stars in the field of detailing. I’m looking forward to getting to see familiar faces and meet new faces over the virtual platform. I’m excited for the exchange of ideas, programs, and concepts. So many people have given me ideas for our program in Michigan.
 
It’s such a good feeling when I can say that not only have I received help from others, but that I’m able to inspire other people. It’s also comforting to know that this is such a passionate group of people that no matter the adverse situation, the work continues getting done. I’m counting down the days until the conference in November!

Have thoughts on our DETAILS Blog posts?
You can head on over to our Discussion Forum to continue the conversation!

​Please refer to our Conference Hub page through narcad.org for all conference ​related videos and slides, which are available as of December 2nd, 2019.
​
by Anna Morgan, RN, BSN, MPH, NaRCAD Program Manager

​Tags: Conference, E-Detailing, Jerry Avorn, Program Management

​​Our team at NaRCAD was proud to host the 7th International Conference on Academic Detailing on November 7th and 8th, 2019 in Boston to a sold-out crowd of health professionals engaged in clinical outreach education. With this year’s theme emphasizing collaboration and innovation, our Director, Dr. Mike Fischer, kicked off Day 1 of NaRCAD2019 by reflecting on the past decade of NaRCAD’s work, while also discussing our exciting plans for the future, and highlighting the importance of enhancing connection between attendees to support their work ahead. ​​​​

​Dr. Melissa Christopher, National Director for the Veteran Affairs (VA) Academic Detailing Services, was next to take the stage as the Day 1 Keynote Speaker.  She provided the audience with an overview of the current work by the Department of Veterans Affairs National Academic Detailing Service and how it supports a High Reliability Organization culture.  She also spoke of the future of academic detailing at the VA, which includes expanding their reach with virtual detailing (“e-detailing”) and advancing their electronic health records through ordering safety alerts and real-time PDMP data. 

​Other day 1 highlights included an expert panel presenting on the successes and challenges of implementing e-detailing within their programs, sharing stories and insights about when, why, and how to connect virtually with providers. Our small group breakout sessions explored the fundamentals of academic detailing, with sessions focused on the basics of an academic detailing visit, how to identify and apply the most reliable sources of evidence-based research, and how to successfully lead an academic detailing program.

​Day 1 also included our annual “lightning round” of Field Presentations, a session that highlights aspects of recent academic detailing interventions. Topics included the use of academic detailing to improve maternal and neonatal health through safer opioid prescribing, the effects of academic detailing on pediatric antipsychotic prescribing in the Medicaid population, and increasing access to Nalaxone in New York City through academic detailing.  The afternoon also included a talk on Aetna’s opioid strategy and ongoing initiatives, with a focus on leveraging provider and system relationships to incentivize physician engagement and catalyze behavior change. 

​Dr. Jerry Avorn, Co-Director of NaRCAD, ended the Day 1 presentations with his Annual Academic Detailing Talk, addressing the importance of moving beyond the silos that exist in most healthcare settings, and how academic detailing can encourage the integration and collaboration of roles and initiatives to create synergy. That collaboration and synergy was illustrated during our evening’s Networking Reception, where we launched our new Mentor Match Program to great success, pairing those just starting out in the field with mentors who are part of more established programs.

​Day 2 provided similar opportunity for exploration and dialogue about program expansion. We kicked off with Keynote Speaker Tupper Bean, Executive Director from the Centre for Effective Practice (CEP).  He discussed CEP’s journey to sustainability as an independent, not-for-profit organization, and reminded the audience that sustainability is a parallel process, not an “add-on”.  To further explore sustainability, our Day 2 Plenary highlighted capacity-building strategies, best practices, and opportunities for expansion in clinical outreach education programming. 

​Day 2 Field Presentations provided opportunities to learn about more active AD programs, including topics such as identifying barriers to opioid prescribing through academic detailing, a team-based model and approach to AD, and a new AD campaign exploring cannabis as an alternative tool for patients experiencing pain. Our afternoon wrapped up with workshops focused on relationship-building for program sustainability, understanding stigma when supporting patients with opioid use disorder (OUD), and building AD campaign materials with limited resources.  

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We’re grateful to all those who attended, and beyond the 2 days of connection at the conference, we at NaRCAD are committed to creating continuous opportunities for connection, support, and collaboration among all of you who make up our incredible network. Keep an eye out for our Annual Community survey, which we’ll send you in early December to find out what you need as you make an even greater impact in 2020!
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​
​
-The NaRCAD Team
​

Tags: Conference, Training

​Summer's officially here, and we're excited for what lies ahead in public health, especially when it comes to what clinicians can do to improve their patients' health. Here at NaRCAD, our work encourages front line care providers to think differently when it comes to opioid safety, sexual health and STI prevention, cancer control, reducing overmedication for the elderly, and much more.

For health educators who provide 1:1 outreach to clinicians, NaRCAD provides hands-on, intensive training, so that these educators can make an impact when bringing the best evidence to front line staff. If you haven't been to one of our trainings, we've just opened registration for our September 23 & 24th, 2019 session here in Boston, where you'll spend 2 days with us, learning how to effectively and persuasively communicate with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, helping them to increase the chances that their patients will have better health outcomes.

​Space fills up fast, so register today, and join other health professionals from across the US who are looking to strengthen clinician care in their communities. After the training, you can bring the interactive interpersonal communications skills of academic detailing back to your health system or local health department to roll out interventions to support chronic disease management, substance use disorder, HIV prevention, and many other critical clinical topics.

And if you're already in the field doing this important outreach work with providers, we want to hear from you, and feature you on the DETAILS Blog. Better yet, join us this November 7 & 8, 2019 at our 7th Annual International Conference on Academic Detailing and share your work with our community. Meet others who are advancing the field, infusing clinical care with the best evidence-based tools and approaches in health care. 

Want to hear from our community members? And keep your eye on our Twitter feed, and check our News & Media Center for our latest e-news and CoRE Podcasts, or browse the DETAILS archives to the right for more stories from the field.

For our part, we'll be adding new stories this summer on successes and challenges in implementing academic detailing in partnership with our colleagues at CDC and NACCHO to support patients dealing with opioid use disorder and pain management. and we'll be hitting the road to train new detailers in Kansas this August. Stay tuned!

Happy Summer!
The Team @ NaRCAD

​Share your work in public health with us. What's happening in your community around the opioid crisis? HIV prevention? Patient education? Have an idea you'd like to hear more about on our next Podcast? Want to share new ideas or challenges related to public health detailing? Sound off below.

Tags: Conference

​The NaRCAD Team is excited to announce that from March 1st to June 1st, 2018, we'll be accepting applications to present at this year's 6th International Conference on Academic Detailing here in Boston on November 12th & 13th, 2018. 

This is our third year of accepting proposals to present, and with each year, we receive even more applications featuring new and innovative approaches to sharing successes and learning opportunities in the field of clinical outreach education. Last year's Review Board chose applications that filled over 85% of our meeting agenda, from expert panels to hands-on workshops to field presentations, and we expect this year to be no different.

For those considering applying, we encourage you to check out our Conference Hub archives to see previous program highlights, both for inspiration and examples of clinical "hot topics" in academic detailing as well to review the various formats we use to showcase the great work being done across the globe.

Whether you choose to apply for the format of our fast-paced Field Presentation session to share data and best practices from your program, an Expert Panel that features thought-provoking (and interactive!) discussion, or an intensive breakout session where participants can actively work to build and improve their work, we want to hear from you. 

​We invite you to check out our application page by clicking on the link below, e-mail us with questions, and join us this November in Boston for the next installment in our exciting series.

See you there!
-The NaRCAD Team

Tags: Conference, Training

​We’re noticing a pattern over here at NaRCAD. As we enter into our 8th(!) year as the only resource center dedicated to clinical outreach education, we’re proud of the recent work we’ve done together with our community, as we are every year. But the pattern we’re seeing is about much more than just pride.

With each January that rolls around, we’re invigorated by the energy of our community members, and by the important programming that's taking place across North America. So it’s no surprise to us that we’re consistently excited to greet each year with the creative solutions, expertise, and events you need to make your program thrive.

​This year, some of those creative solutions are ready for you to take for a test drive. We’ve just launched our CoRE (Clinical Outreach Education) Podcast Series, featuring 20 minute episodes of insight, and innovation. (Listen to our pilot episode here, and suggest topics you’d like to hear in the comment section below.)

We’re also proud to release our brand new Detailing Directory, highlighting shareable resources from successful field programs across the US and Canada. Explore the Detailing Directory by clinical topic, and explore our AD Fact Sheets, featuring toolkit examples, publications, and video sessions on specific topics in academic detailing. The goal of our Detailing Directory is to give you direct access to resources and building blocks to strengthen your program so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. (Want to be featured and share your resources? Contact us today and we’ll be happy to add you to our directory.)

And while we’re proud of our ever-growing portfolio of virtual resources, what we love most is to connect with you person to person, program to program. That’s why we’re delighted to announce the dates (and open registration!) for our upcoming Spring Training on AD Techniques in Boston on April 30 & May 1st, 2018.

​We’ve also just released our Save the Date for our 6th annual International Conference on Academic Detailing on November 12th & 13th, 2018—and we’re taking submissions for presentations starting March 1st--we hope you'll consider applying!

With so much happening for NaRCAD, and for our dedicated community members, who work tirelessly to improve patient care through clinician education, it's easy to see why we’re looking forward to the opportunities ahead. Thanks for continuing to share your insights with us--we’re here to support you, highlight your work, and ensure that your programming has the greatest possible impact.
 
We hope to connect with you soon.
-The NaRCAD Team

The NaRCAD Team

Tags: Cardiovascular Health, Conference, HIV/AIDS, Rural AD Programs

This year's 5th International Conference on Academic Detailing, held in Boston on November 6th & 7th, 2017, brought our programming to new heights. We were inspired by the high levels of interactivity woven into the two days of programming, ranging from live polling during expert panels to critical dialogue about dealing with stigma in the face of the opioid crisis.

We heard from various AD practitioners across the United States and Canada, with an emphasis on improving health outcomes for patients dealing with risk of heart failure, those living with chronic diseases such as COPD and diabetes, and prevention for those at high risk of contracting HIV. Our sessions were diverse in terms of content as well as geographic representation--we learned from clinical education experts about the specific challenges of detailing in rural areas, as well as from those whose role was to support detailers in the field by creating dynamic, engaging, and cost-effective educational materials.

We're grateful to the community of supporters of academic detailing, from those who work full-time in the field to those who are building programs; we were delighted to see old friends who've been attending since our very first conference, as well as to meet folks who are just getting started. If you can believe it, we're already thinking about NaRCAD2018, and we have our community to thank for it--so thank you, for raising the bar this year and bringing innovation, exciting progress, and new energy to our conference series. For those of you who missed out in person, you can enjoy highlights from 2017's program on our conference hub page.

We'll be announcing the dates for our 2018 conference in early January 2018, and we'll be opening the process for presentation applications on March 1st, 2018, so check our Conference Series page for both announcements. Whether you choose to present, attend, or tune in via on-demand video and social media, we wish you a happy rest of 2017, and we hope to help your program grow in 2018.

See you next year!
-The NaRCAD Team 

Mike Fischer, MD, MS, NaRCAD Director
Tags: ​Conference, Director's Letter, HIV/AIDS, Jerry Avorn, Opioid Safety, PrEP, Training

​Fall is the season for conferences, and the most exciting one for us is #NaRCAD2017: Combatting Threats to Optimal Care! 

This year’s conference is a great chance for everyone interested in AD to learn more, whether you’re part of a long-standing program or just beginning to learn about the versatility and effectiveness of implementing this strategy to improve health outcomes. Our agenda is up, so take a peek, and register if you haven’t yet!

The keynote presentations will provide critical insights for creating and sustaining AD programs in different settings. Dr. Zoe Edelstein will kick off Day 1’s programming, representing the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. This keynote will teach us about their public health detailing intervention to increase use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).  The New York program was originally founded in 2002, so Dr. Edelstein’s presentation will help anyone from a public health background understand how to both develop and sustain AD, and to adapt it for new and pressing health challenges. ​

Dr. Carol Havens from Kaiser Permanente will provide a detailed overview of the longest-running AD program in the US, a program that was developed with input from Jerry Avorn soon after the original AD studies were published.
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​We look forward to being inspired by lessons learned from a leading integrated health care system’s ongoing commitment to improving the quality of care around opioid safety with clinical outreach education.

The rest of our conference agenda draws almost entirely from proposals submitted by members of our NaRCAD network – we received twice as many proposals this year!

We’re looking forward to our “Field Presentations” sessions, featuring empiric results from detailers on the ground; expert panelists from the CDC, state departments of public health, and clinical care sharing important impressions on clinician stigma on the critical issues of HIV prevention and opioid safety; and breakout sessions covering many of the practical issues and challenges that detailers face when bringing best evidence to clinicians. Of course, for many of us, the highlight of each conference is the annual update from Jerry Avorn on the state of AD--see his recent blog piece, “Who Do You Trust?” for a preview of what’s to come!

The NaRCAD team is excited by the knowledge that integral opportunities, connections, and partnerships will be created at our unique 2-day event.​ But as excited as our team and our extended community may be about the conference, it’s not the only terrific development underway at NaRCAD this fall. We’ve continued to provide training and support for groups from around the country and the globe, with 2 trainings in the techniques of AD this past September, and more planned this fall and winter! ​Keep your eyes on our Training Series page for the official announcement of our Spring 2018 AD techniques training, and contact us at any time about opportunities and resources to support your AD program.

See you soon,
-Mike

Tags: Conference, Training

Here at NaRCAD, we're excited for our favorite (and busiest) time of year. We were on the road in San Francisco this month, working with the Pacific Aids Education & Training Center to run an HIV/PrEP-specific academic detailing techniques training.

Now, we're gearing up for our annual Fall AD Training that we hold each September in Boston, focusing solely on teaching the social marketing techniques of clinical outreach education--our class is full, but we'll announce a new one soon! 

What's next? Our 5th International Conference on Academic Detailing, with an exciting 2-day agenda lined up for this November 6th & 7th, 2017! If you haven't registered yet, take a look at our event page and contact us with any questions.

​We'll be posting our agenda soon, including terrific keynote speakers, as well as an emphasis on the critical clinical topics that our field is grappling with. 

Tags: Conference

​NaRCAD is currently accepting proposals for presentations at the 5th International Conference on Academic Detailing on November 6th & 7th, 2017. We encourage you to submit proposals highlighting work that advances the field of academic detailing and clinical outreach education, describing your successes and challenges, and presenting data, results, and best practices to share with conference attendees and our larger Partner Network community. 

Our deadline is June 15th, 2017. Check out our Conference Hub Archives to see what previous submissions have covered, check out on-demand video, and review other event materials! Don't hesitate to e-mail us if you have questions. This year's Expert Review Board is looking forward to reading your application.

Director's Letter | Mike Fischer, MD, MS

Tags: Conference, Director's Letter, Health Policy, Training 
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The entire health care system is grappling with uncertainty. What will happen to the provisions of the Affordable Care Act? Will clinicians and health systems face major changes in how they are expected to provide care and how they are reimbursed? Will state and local public health agencies have support for the many initiatives undertaken in recent years?

As we wait for answers to these questions, the role of academic detailing is more important than ever. AD programs will face new challenges, and will need to understand how AD can be adapted to fit changing constraints and still have a beneficial impact on clinician engagement, the quality of care, and patient outcomes. At NaRCAD, we look at this unpredictable environment and see a mandate to collaborate and innovate, working with our partners to develop and evaluate novel ways to implement AD.

​At NaRCAD, we look at this unpredictable environment and see a mandate to collaborate and innovate.

Planning for NaRCAD2017, our annual conference, is well underway, and the call for proposals is open. Submit results of your current work or your ideas for panels and breakout sessions that will let you share your work and inspire colleagues. 

To keep AD growing and thriving requires an active pipeline of newly trained detailers, which we have just added to with our recent AD Techniques Training on March 30 & 31, 2017. 

This spring’s training class came to Boston to learn the techniques of academic detailing in order to support important interventions, including better use of smoking cessation treatment for patients with serious mental illness, increasing HPV vaccination rates, enhanced safety of opioid prescribing, and improving the care of chronic diseases such as COPD, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart failure, and kidney disease.

​Our trainees hailed from Canada, Brazil, and around the U.S., including South Carolina, Rhode Island, Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon, Texas, Kentucky, Connecticut, and Colorado, bringing their unique experiences and backgrounds to 2 days filled with hands-on learning opportunities. Stay tuned for upcoming details about our Fall 2017 training, to be held this September--dates announced soon!

What continues to motivate us during times of uncertainty is working with the NaRCAD community, and we want 2017 to continue to be a year of even deeper engagement. Submit to the 2017 conference, share your ideas, suggestions, and comments on our blog, or reach out to us directly.  We’re excited to continue to support your work and to build new collaborations--tell us what you need as part of our community of clinical outreach educators. ​-Mike

The Format Options for Your Proposals:
A. Presentation of Program Results: Program result submissions will be considered for inclusion as oral presentations of 15 minutes or as posters made available throughout the conference with dedicated poster sessions providing opportunities to engage with attendees.

Need inspiration? Check our NaRCAD2016's terrific Field Presentation Group, pictured above, and see live video of their best practices presentations!

B. Panel Discussion: Panel sessions will be presented to the entire conference audience and will run 60-90 minutes, depending on number selected. Panels should include a moderator and 3 panel participants. See what our previous conference panels have focused on and how our panels are run by clicking here.

Instructions, Formatting, & Submission Deadline 
Please review our submission instructions and complete your submission in one continuous Word Document attachment, and submit to narcad@partners.org on or after March 1st, 2017, using the subject line: "#NaRCAD2017 Presentation Proposal: Your Name." Proposals will be reviewed between March 1st and June 1st 2017; with the final deadline to submit being Thursday, June 1st, 2017 by 5 p.m. EST. 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with priority given to early applicants. Our review team will make final selections and contact all applicants no later than July 1st, 2017. 

Contact us anytime with questions at narcad@partners.org, or post your question in the Comments Forum below--we're happy to help, and we hope to see you this November.

Growth. Support. Engagement. These words characterized 2016 for NaRCAD, and have us planning for an exciting 2017.  In 2016, we had our most successful and impactful year to date. Our community has grown to over 1000 national and international supporters of clinical outreach education.

In addition to our core training sessions in Boston (our next session is March 30th & 31st), we’re continuing to offer on-site topic-specific trainings, customized workshops, and special educational sessions on the principles and practice of AD.

In addition to providing direct support, we’ve been excited to successfully connect people and programs with each other, allowing for the exchange of ideas and best practices among both national and international experts. We’re proud of our ability to meet our partners where they are, whether they’re starting, expanding, or adapting AD interventions, and this year, we’re looking forward to supporting and improving your work.

We started this process by sending you our first annual community survey in December, and we thank our many members who responded. (You can still weigh in if you have thoughts, although our raffle is over!) We’ve listened to your insightful suggestions, and we’re already taking action to support your needs.

​This year, we’ll be launching the new COrE (Clinical Outreach Education) Series, exploring AD program development, specific clinical content, and other topics you’ve suggested. Featuring AD experts,  the NaRCAD team, and using both interview and live webinar formats, the COrE Series is a great opportunity for advanced learning, support, and collaboration. Stay tuned for more information!

We’ll also be increasing engagement opportunities via our Partner Network; we’ll be reaching out individually to learn more about your current work, and we’ll offer an interactive site where you can make your own partner connections with experts working on similar topics. As we grow even more in the coming year, your ideas and reflections remain invaluable.

​You don’t have to wait for us to contact you! We invite you to be in touch with our team and tell us more about your program—what challenges you’ve faced, what successes you’ve experienced, best practices you’d like to share, programs you’d like to know more about, and the resources you need to help you succeed.
-Mike

Biography. Michael Fischer, MD, MS, NaRCAD Director
Dr. Fischer is a general internist, pharmacoepidemiologist, and health services researcher. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard and a clinically active primary care physician and educator at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. With extensive experience in designing and evaluating interventions to improve medication use, he has published numerous studies demonstrating potential gains from improved prescribing. Read more.

Bevin K. Shagoury, Communications & Education Director

Tags: Conference

As we reflect on the successes and growth of NaRCAD in 2016, especially last month's terrific 4th International Conference on Academic Detailing in Boston, we give thanks to our community of supporters of clinical outreach education!

We're nearing 1,000 network subscribers who regularly read our blogs, newsletters, and attend our events, and we're appreciative of all of your hard work, feedback, and contributions to NaRCAD, making our resource center and partner network stronger with each year.  

​Thank you to all who have completed our 1st Annual Community Survey, providing us with valuable feedback on our services and resources. We're excited to find new ways we can continue to support your work, and we're always eager to read your feedback year round, so drop us a line if there's anything we can do to help you strengthen your AD programming. What do you have planned for 2017, and how can we help you increase your impact?

As we prepare for 2017, we're looking forward to continued innovation and success in the field of AD. Stay tuned--we'll kick off the new year with a special director's letter from Director Mike Fischer in our January Edition of Academic Detailing Today. And don't forget, our Spring 2017 AD Techniques Training will be held in Boston on March 30th & 31st, and registration opens January 1st.

Thanks for a wonderful 2016!
The NaRCAD Team

Director’s Letter: Fall 2016 | Mike Fischer, MD, MS, Director of NaRCAD

​Tags: Conference, Detailing Visits, Director's Letter, Training

When the leaves start to turn here in Boston, we know it’s almost time for NaRCAD’s International Conference on Academic Detailing. This year’s 4th annual conference features several new and exciting sessions we’re excited to share with our community.

​#NaRCAD2016 highlights the work of innovators in academic detailing from many locations and organizations, ranging from large national health systems to small independent programs. 

​Diverse clinical topics will be featured at our interactive sessions, including pediatric developmental screening, smoking cessation in patients with serious mental illness, opioid misuse and overuse, screening for ADHD, and many others.

​Breakout sessions offer attendees a chance to work closely with leaders in the field, featuring in-depth and hands-on exploration of specific elements of academic detailing. Whether your focus is on training detailers, preparing clinical topic materials, or program evaluation, our dynamic breakout sessions offer a chance to network and acquire new skills.

Our conference is our largest event of the year, but our team has been busy this fall with other activities. At our Boston-based training in September we welcomed trainees from organizations across the country, all of whom concentrated on learning the techniques of academic detailing.

We also spent two days this fall in San Francisco, working with the city’s Department of Public Health on an intervention to increase the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for patients at risk of contracting HIV. We’re excited to continue supporting our partners at the SFDPH as they move forward on this important initiative.

​Come join us at #NaRCAD2016! There’s only a month left to register, and space is limited. Check out our conference hub archival page to see what previous events were like, including on-demand video and program highlights. We’re excited that clinical outreach education has been such an effective strategy to address the pressing problems facing patients, clinicians, and health systems.

This year, we know that the opportunity to learn, share ideas, and connect with experts will continue to ignite inspiration for our community’s important work in improving quality of care and patient outcomes in 2017 and beyond.

Mike Fischer, MD, MS, NaRCAD Director
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Tags:​ Conference, Director's Letter, Training

Summer is in full swing, but we’re already looking ahead to #NaRCAD2016, our 4th International Conference on Academic Detailing, which we’ll host this fall on November 14th & 15th in Boston. We received a wonderful response to our first-ever call for proposals, with submissions from across the country and around the world, making the 2016 conference our most exciting and community-informed meeting yet.

Our team was inspired by the innovative and diverse proposals we received. Following in the footsteps of previous conference series programming, this year’s applications demonstrated a dedication to improving the quality of care and patient outcomes.  #NaRCAD2016 applicants showcased success across a broad spectrum of AD interventions: in outpatient and inpatient settings, in public and private systems, and for a wide range of clinical topics.

​We’re thankful to all who applied for #NaRCAD2016, and we encourage those who are just beginning to roll out an intervention to consider applying for next year’s conference.

Along with presentations from our selected applicants, this year’s program will include carefully designed content from leaders in the field, interactive learning sessions, and networking opportunities, including an evening reception.

This year will be your chance to learn about cutting edge interventions being implemented across the globe, to share your unique perspective and experiences, and to collaborate with a thriving community of clinical outreach education colleagues. 

In that spirit of collaboration, we’re always eager to hear from you, the members of our learning network. We can support your AD programming with expert techniques training, materials development, evaluation, or by highlighting your work. We’re also dedicated to personally connecting our network members to one another, working to amplify our community’s knowledge, tools, and impact. Take a minute to tell us what resources you need, to explore our Learning Center, or to join the conversation—either virtually, or in Boston in November.

We’ll see you at #NaRCAD2016—registration is now open, and space is limited!
If you have questions, let our team know.
-Mike

Director's Letter | Mike Fischer, MD, MS
Tags: Conference, Director's Letter

​NaRCAD has jumped right into action in 2016! We’ve been getting out of Boston, working with colleagues across the country in a range of settings. As we’ve partnered with state and local public health agencies, long-term care providers, primary-care networks, and other organizations, we’ve seen how the principles of AD can be adapted to fit the needs of different clinicians and patients. The work of our colleagues teaches us how we can best support clinical outreach education, raise its visibility, and improve health outcomes together.

At NaRCAD, we’re always expanding the range of services we provide, including our core training series on the techniques of AD, specialized workshops and seminars, and consultation on materials development for AD interventions. Let us know what we can do to strengthen your program and highlight your program successes this year.

Tags: Autism, CME, Conference, Detailing Visits, Pediatrics, Practice Facilitation, Training
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​NaRCAD: Hi, Meagan and Mindy—thanks for taking the time to talk with us about your clinical outreach education programming at Colorado ABCD. Can you give us an overview about ABCD and its mission to improve child development?

Meagan Shallcross: Colorado Assuring Better Child Health & Development (ABCD) works with community partners, pediatric healthcare providers, early learning providers, and families across Colorado communities. The goal is to strengthen systems and identify children with developmental delays, connecting them with community services as early as possible.

Mindy Craig: My path to healthcare improvement is a little different than what you might expect.  I worked for Northwest Airlines as a flight attendant for several years straight out of college.  At that time the airline industry was losing a large amount of money and needed to find a new way of operating.  They decided to utilize a Total Quality Management approach and enlisted people from every department to undergo training in TQM and then facilitate small departmental groups in quality efforts.  It was through this process that I began to understand the importance of doing business with a quality framework.

Eventually, I left Northwest and started working in a Neurology clinic while going back to school with the goal of becoming a PA.   After completing my degree I worked in primary care settings for about 10 years.  I participated in small clinic QI efforts over the years and continued to be interested in quality improvement.

I was hired by ABCD 8 years ago to bring a clinical perspective to their physician outreach.   It was a natural progression for me to start approaching our work at ABCD with a quality improvement framework.  The power of engaging front line staff to implement changes that result in improvement remains as strong as it was when I worked in the airline industry. 
 
NaRCAD: Talk with us about your academic detailing programming at ABCD—you’ve been doing this for about 10 years, right?

Mindy: We started our work  encouraging the use of standardized developmental screening tools in the primary care settings.  This was supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement in 2006 recommending the use of these tools at well child visits.  We offered informal outreach to physicians providing instructions on screening tools, billing information, AAP recommendations and information on referral resources.
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We quickly recognized that screening alone wasn’t sufficient and began talking about the referral process and how to ensure successful referrals were being made.  At around this time, research was showing us that only about 50% of children referred for Early Intervention services were actually connecting to that referral.  It was easy to identify children with concerns but not as easy to ensure they received needed support.
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We decided to try formalizing our approach to outreach by offering Continuing Medical Education [CME] credits.  While we didn’t change content, offering CME changed the way providers saw us as detailers.  We appreciated the new credibility, but still struggled with recruiting new practices.

NaRCAD:  Recruiting practices to participate is a challenge for many programs. How did this struggle transform into quality improvement?

We now offer Quality Improvement [QI] and MOC projects for implementing developmental screening, autism screening and postpartum depression screening in addition to a project that aims to increase the percentage of children who successfully connect with Early Intervention when referred from their primary care provider.  We have been thrilled with the response from physicians for participating in these projects and just received funding to continue and grow our outreach efforts. 

NaRCAD: What have been some other challenges you’ve faced when going in to talk to clinicians about implementing developmental screening?

Mindy:  I started working at ABCD unsure of how to provide physician outreach, so I naturally modeled my efforts on the one successful approach I knew very well, which was pharmaceutical sales.  As the recipient of pharmaceutical detailing, it was pretty easy to begin my outreach efforts in a similar fashion.  I quickly learned how it feels to be a detailer.  Front office staff rejected me repeatedly, I made hundreds of phone calls that didn’t get returned, and when I did get to speak to a provider I had to speak quickly and to the point to keep their attention.  The challenge of gaining access was the biggest barrier I confronted early on and remains at the top of the list.

​NaRCAD: When dealing with those challenges, what’s helped you to build relationships with clinicians in order to gain commitment?

Meagan: To deal with the challenges that arise, we have found that it helps to get creative in our approach to gain access to clinicians and add credibility to our messages. A barrier we have encountered when trying to schedule times to meet with clinicians is the expectation that we will provide food. Our funders and budgets do not allow us to pay for food, so we have opted to provide other incentives for clinicians, such as CME or MOC credit. Not only is offering CME/MOC credits an educational incentive for providers, but it lends credibility to our messages. We facilitate our QI projects through multiple meetings at the practice and have found that, by developing relationships and a presence in the office, we can overcome clinicians’ resistance to implementing screening or other changes in their practice. 

NaRCAD:  What other advice would give to a new and emerging AD program that’s just getting started, or that you’d give yourself if you could go back in time 10 years?

Meagan: We have found NaRCAD’s training and tips to be very helpful, so we would recommend that new clinical educators attend a NaRCAD techniques training to hone their skills in communicating their messages with clinicians and gaining commitment to behavior change. One of our main takeaways from the NaRCAD conference was the importance of high-quality, professional materials, so we would recommend that new programs budget for the development of professional materials as well as food, which can be an incentive when setting up meetings with clinicians.

Over the years, we’ve realized how critical it is to work with community partners before going into healthcare practices to ensure that clinical workflows, such as processes for making referrals to external agencies, are aligned with community-defined processes and so that clinicians are aware of the resources available to patients and families in their communities.

NaRCAD: Thanks so much for sharing important insights from your program to improve childhood health outcomes. We look forward to seeing you at a future training and hearing more about your program's future successes!

Mindy Craig, PA-C, M.S., Director of Physician Outreach, has been with the ABCD team for 8 years and brings with her experience in the clinical setting.  She earned her physician assistant degree at the University of Colorado Health Science Center’s Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant program in May 2000.  Concurrently, she completed additional course work and research to earn her Master of Science degree in Pediatrics.  Ms. Craig worked as a physician assistant in a number of settings for ten years prior to joining the ABCD team.  Her medical career has included a variety of medical office positions from medical records clerk to practice manager.  This range of experience positions her to fully understand the unique dynamics and flow in a typical office, which allows her to deliver technical assistance to practices at a meaningful level.
 
Ms. Craig’s quality improvement experience began in the business sector where she was extensively trained on Total Quality Management (TQM) at Northwest Airlines.  She worked at the airline as a facilitator, training inflight and ground personnel in the principles of quality improvement.  This experience with quality continued in the clinical setting, as she has participated in and/or chaired a number of quality improvement projects over her career as a physician assistant. In addition to her work at ABCD, Ms. Craig also does consulting work for organizations needing assistance with physician outreach and education. 

Meagan Shallcross, MPH, Healthy Steps/Physician Outreach Coordinator, joined the ABCD team in June 2015 as the Healthy Steps and Physician Outreach Coordinator. Meagan is passionate about building systems and environments that support children’s healthy development through clinical-community partnerships and integrated care delivery approaches. Meagan earned a Master of Public Health degree at the University of Michigan, where she supported Patient and Family Centered Care projects at the university health system and was involved with community-based participatory research addressing health equity, as well as research focused on provider-patient communication. 

Learn more at www.coloradoabcd.org. All photos used with permission.