Abstract 9539: Treatment of Hyperlipidemia: Assessment of Providers’ Competency With Edocate® Virtual Patient Simulation Application

Abstract

Management of hyperlipidemia (HL) in patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) has been taught extensively but the real-life competency is difficult to evaluate. Edocate’s proprietary virtual patient simulation smartphone and web-based application (APP) allows an innovative way of learning and objective assessment of the provider’s proficiency in approach to and management of a given medical condition. We utilized this novel educational APP to analyze the real-life knowledge of 894 healthcare providers (HCP) in several projects within multiple geographies in the management of HL in patients with T2DM. The HCP managed 1-3 patients with T2DM and HL in their virtual clinic. HCP chose medications, made diagnostic adjustments, and ordered laboratory tests of their choice. Based on their selections, the APP simulated the course of diabetes and hyperlipidemia throughout multiple virtual visits, requiring diverse management decisions and addressing medications’ side effects, while adhering to guidelines and accepted standards of care. Results: Conclusions: 1. Innovative patient simulation-based learning APP revealed adequate but not perfect HL management skills. 2. NP - DM have the best guideline-recommended approach to therapy, followed by practicing MD/DO. 3. Intensive therapy achieving LDL levels below 50 or even 70 mg/dl remains elusive. 4. Edocate’s patient simulation-based learning application helps identify knowledge gaps, prescription patterns and HCP decision-making processes. 5. This APP accurately assesses the “real-life” knowledge and patterns of practice while offering cutting-edge ways of learning to dramatically improve competency levels.