Centers of Excellence

While NCME has many areas of expertise in both live programming and enduring materials, the following are particularly noteworthy and are considered NCME “Centers of Excellence”:

• Creative Content Development
• Electronic Media
• Dedicated Lecture Division
• Database Management
• Project Management
• Audience Generation
• Scientific Council Development and Management
• Outcomes Measurement






Creative Content Development
• Experienced staff of medical writers, physicians, PhDs, and editors
• Medical directors assigned to each therapeutic area
• NCME national medical editorial board reviews all clinical materials
• Therapeutic area advisory board established for initiatives covering specific classes of therapeutics
• Created hundreds of slide kits, monographs, journal articles, and newsletters
• Developed and produced more than 5,000 fully scripted video, audio, CD-ROM, and DVD programs
• Created proprietary publications in cardiovascular disease, alzheimers, gastroenterology, head and neck cancer, HIV/AIDS, dermatology, internal medicine, infectious diseases, metabolic syndrome, neurology, schizophrenia, oncology, and respiratory illness

Electronic Media
NCME is considered an innovator in the field of electronic media and has produced nearly 6,000 electronically delivered programs, including:

• NCME TV™ Subscription - A hospital subscription network for staff and attending physicians
• CME teleconferencing
• CME Tele-Symposia™
• Interactive CD-ROMs/DVDs
• Webcasting and Website development
• Satellite videoconferences
• Video and audio journals
• e-journal clubs
• e-newsletters
• e-learning
• Webinars

Dedicated Lecture Division
NCME has a dedicated staff that recruits, trains, and places speakers and that recruits participation for:

• CME distinguished lecture programs
• National and local symposia
• Community seminars, including “Urban Blitz” programming
• Critical pathways and discharge planning workshops
• Speaker training meetings
• Interactive Health Care Forums™
• Visiting professors
• Best practices

NCME has implemented more than 35,000 of these programs to date.


Database Management
NCME has long-term relationships with over 4,000 hospitals. Our proprietary database is an invaluable tool to quickly ascertain all relevant personnel and logistics information associated with setting up and executing well-attended meetings and other programs anywhere in the country. The database is constantly updated and uses proprietary software to produce reports containing any combination of information desired.

NCME’s proprietary database is also a tremendous resource for audience generation, containing information on over 350,000 physicians in a wide range of specialties who have participated in our CME programs. Our database not only tracks their participation, but also keeps information on the type of programming (eg, teleconferences, distinguished lectures, dinner meetings, Web-based programs, or print) and topics that are of interest to them so that we can include them in announcements for future CME activities.



Project Management
The success of any project requires close attention and coordination of many fine details. NCME project directors and managers truly take ownership of programs by systematically addressing and tracking each part of the developing program, while never losing sight of the “big picture.” NCME project directors and managers:

• Have extensive experience implementing a wide range of programs, from closed symposia to multi-city videoconferences
• Take ownership of the entire program, down to the smallest details
• Serve as liaison between departments, such as editorial and production
• Serve as both the quarterback and deep safety—heading off problems before they occur
• Thrive under pressure
• Meet program objectives on time, within prescribed budgets




Audience Generation
All NCME programs offer a very important extra—the right audience. Excellent programs aren’t valuable unless they are well attended, or are distributed to and utilized by the appropriate audience. To generate the right audiences for our programs, NCME:

• Employs a full-time staff of telemarketers, promotional writers, direct marketers, and graphic designers experienced in a wide range of media
• Employs a full-time manager of direct marketing
• Utilizes telephone, mail, fax, and e-mail campaigns
• Involves the potential audience in program development by soliciting potentially challenging case studies for possible inclusion in the activity



Scientific Council Development and Management
A medical council is an assembly of physician experts who have a common interest in a specific area of medicine; it is organized to further the educational needs of that area. Councils are generally developed to provide thought leaders with the opportunity to exchange information and ideas and to provide a forum for disseminating new findings and trial results to their peers. NCME has created and manages many scientific councils in a variety of therapeutic areas. NCME councils are the source of content development for CME activities. Council members feel a sense of ownership of the programs that are created, and are often more willing to participate as faculty for individual activities generated from the content. In cardiology, NCME has developed and managed content for 9 councils:

• Interdisciplinary Lipids Council
• Council on Myocardial Ischemia
• International Council on the Role of Beta-Receptor Blockade
• US Beta-Receptor Blockade Council
• International Council on Aldosterone-Receptor Blockade Therapy
• Council on Circadian Rhythm
• Strategies and Therapies for Reducing Ischemia and Vascular Events (STRIVE™)
• Controlling Atherosclerosis with Lipid Modification Strategies (CALMS™)
• Cardiovascular Disease Continuum (CDC™)
• Strategies for Urgent Reperfusion of Vessels in Vascular Emergencies (SURVIVE™)
• Practice Innovations to Achieve Cardiometabolic Lowering of Events (PINNACLE™)
• Cardivascular Health Protection Initiative

Outcomes Measurement
NCME has always been a strong believer and proponent of Outcomes Measurement. The reason being that NCME believes it is important to see a CME activity and/or a comprehensive has been relative to addressing all the programs learning objectives. Specifically, NCME routinely implements Level 2/3 Outcome surveys and depending on the scope and nature of a CME activity, we will implement Level 4 Outcomes Studies.These studies are implemented in a variety of ways, namely in person, direct mail, phone, and via the internet. The results of these studies provide NCME with the necessary input to address future educational needs and to help enhance the effectiveness of a given CME activity.