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Indian healthcare professionals can save more than 215 million hours per year

CMEPEDIA aims to

  • become the generic distributor of accredited online CE content in developing countries;
  • CMEPEDIA aims to provide access to accredited online CE free or at an affordable rate;
  • expose all health care professionals to knowledge of a similar standard regardless of their location;
  • reduce the loss of clinical time spent on CE.
 
 
 
Time saved per year by 100% adoption of online CE
Clinical time spent in earning CE credits through live events (Table 1)
  Total time required to obtain CE via live event per year for all Indian healthcare professionals Total time required to obtain CE via online per year Time saved per year by 100% adoption of online CME
Doctors 69.06 million hours 7.8 million hours 61.26 million hours
Dentists 13.33 million hours 5.4 million hours 7.94 million hours
Nurses 245.28 million hours 100.2 million hours 145.08 million hours
Total health care professionals 327.67 million hours 113.4 million hours 214.28 million hours
Indian doctors

Indian physicians must obtain 30 CME credits every five years (6 credits yearly). Physicians must be physically present at a live event to gain these credits. The average travel time to attend a live event, based on the weighted average of urban and rural travel time, is 4.8 hours. The study time and the time spent socialising in a live CME event to gain one CME credit is 4 hours. Therefore, the total time required for 1 credit is (4.8 + 4 = 8.8) hours. Exposing 1.308 million physicians in India to 1 credit hour of CME will require approximately 11.5 million clinical hours. (Table 2)

The travel time of 4.8 hours is estimated by calculating the weighted average of travel time by rural and urban doctors, considering a minimum journey of 12 hours per day for rural doctors and 3 hours per day for urban doctors. Urban:rural distribution is taken as approximately 80:20.

Time required for all Indian doctors to earn 1 CME credit (Table 2)
Number of Indian physicians (as of June 2022 per National Medical Commission records) 1.308 million
Study time + socialising time required to earn 1 credit through a live event 4 hours
Average travel time to CME venue 4.8 hours
Time required per doctor to earn 1 CME credit hour 8.8 hours
Time required for all registered doctors to earn 1 CME credit hour with a live event [8.8 * 1.3 million] = 11.5 million hours

Notes

  1. As per NMC guidelines, attendance of 4 hours at a conference entitles a doctor to 1 CME credit.

  2. The travel time of 4.8 hours is estimated by calculating the weighted average of travel time by rural and urban doctors, considering a minimum journey of 12 hours per day for rural doctors and 3 hours per day for urban doctors. Urban:rural distribution is taken as approximately 80:20.

  3. Time required for all registered doctors to earn 6 CME credit hours with a live event: 52.8 *1.308 million = 69.06 million.

Solution

If CMEs in India could be conducted solely online, the yearly burden on physicians would be reduced to 6 hours per year, meaning that 46.8 clinical hours would remain available for clinical practice per physician.

If all medical doctors are considered, online CME frees up 46.8. x 1.308 = 61.21 million clinical hours annually for India only.

Time saved per doctor by 100% adoption of online CME
Clinical time spent in earning CME credits through live events (Table 3)
Participant time or clinical time spent (hours) Study time + Socialising time Travel time Total time
Per doctor to earn 1 CME credit hour 4 4.8 8.8
Per doctor per year (time required for 1 credit x 6) 24 28.8 52.8
Per doctor in 5 years (time required for 1 credit x 30) 120 144 264
Clinical time spent in earning CME credits through online events
Per doctor to earn 1 CME credit hour 1 0 1
Per doctor per year (time required for 1 credit x 6) 6 0 6
Per doctor in 5 years (time required for 1 credit x 30) 30 0 30
Indian dentists

As per Continuing Dental Education Regulations, 2018 guidelines, dentists must obtain 100 CDE credits every five years (20 credits yearly). Dentists must be physically present at a live event to gain these credits. For attending a full-day (6 hours) lecture or conference, 6 credit points are awarded. For attending a half-day lecture 3 credit points are awarded, and for attending a 1-hour lecture 1 credit is awarded. The average travel time to attend a live event based on the weighted average of urban and rural travel time is 3.9 hours. (Table 4)

The travel time of 3.9 hours is estimated by calculating the weighted average of travel time by rural and urban dentists, considering a minimum journey of 12 hours per day for rural dentists and 3 hours per day for urban dentists. Urban: rural distribution is taken as approximately 90:10.

For example: If a dentist has to gain 20 credits a year, assuming he or she might attend live events 6 times to obtain the required credit of 20 hours. (Table 4)

Time required for all Indian dentists to earn 20 CDE credits (Table 4)
  CDE credits Study time required to earn a credit through a live event Breaks + Time spent on socialising or networking Average travel time to CDE venue Total time required per dentist to earn CDE credit
Half day event 3 credits 3 hours 1 hour 3.9 hours 7.9 hours
Half day event 3 credits 3 hours 1 hour 3.9 hours 7.9 hours
Full day event 6 credits 6 hours 2 hours 3.9 hours 11.9 hours
Full day event 6 credits 6 hours 2 hours 3.9 hours 11.9 hours
1 hour event 1 credits 1 hour   3.9 hours 4.9 hours
1 hour event 1 credits 1 hour   3.9 hours 4.9 hours
Time required for 20 credits 20 credits 20 hours 6 hours 23.4 hours 49.4 hours
Notes

  1. The travel time required to attend a CDE event will be 3.9 hours, irrespective of the conference hours.

  2. Table 4 is one of the examples of the number of times a dentist might have to attend a live event to obtain 20 CDE credits.

Time required for all Indian dentists to earn 1 CDE credit (Table 5)
  20 hours 1 hour
Number of Indian dentists 330 thousand
Study time required to earn a credit through a live event 20 hours = 20 credits 1 hour = 1 credit
Average travel time to CDE venue 23.4 hours 23.4 hours travel time /20 hours = 1.17 hours
Average socialising time spent in a CDE event 6 hours 6 hours / 20 = 18 minutes
Total time required per dentist to earn CDE credit 49.4 hours 2.47 hours
Time required for all registered dentists to earn CDE credit hour with a live event [49.4 * 330 thousand] = 16.30 million hours [2.47 * 330 thousands] = 815 thousand hours
Notes

  1. The study time required to gain 20 CDE credits is 20 hours. Therefore, the total time required for 20 credits is (20+ 23.4+6 = 49.4) hours. Exposing 330 thousand dentists in India to get 20 credit hours of CDE will require approximately 16.30 million clinical hours (Table 5).

Solution

If CDEs in India could be conducted solely online, the yearly burden on dentists would be reduced to 20 hours per year, meaning that 29.4 clinical hours would remain available for clinical practice (Table 6) per dentist.

If all dentists are considered, online CDE frees up 29.4 x 0.33 million = 9.70 million clinical hours annually for India only.

Time saved per dentists by 100% adoption of online CDE
Clinical time spent in earning CDE credits through live events (Table 6)
Participant time or clinical time spent (hours) Study time Non study time (Travel+ Socialising) Total time
Per dentists to earn 20 CDE credit hours for 1 year 20 29.4 49.4
Per dentists to earn 20 CDE credit hours for 5 years 100 147 247
Clinical time spent in earning CDE credits through online events
Per dentist to earn 20 CDE credit hours for 1 year 20 0 20
Per dentists to earn 20 CDE credit hours for 5 years 100 0 100
 
Time saved per dentists by 100% adoption of online CDE per year     29.4
Indian nurses

Indian nurses must obtain 30 CNE credits every five years (6 credits yearly. if nurses are to be physically present at a live event to gain these credits. The average travel time to attend a live event based on the weighted average of urban and rural travel time is 6.24 hours. The study time required to gain one CNE credit is 5 hours. Therefore, the total time required for 1 credit is (6.24 + 5 +1 = 12.24) hours. Exposing 3.34 million nurses in India to 1 credit hour of CNE will require approximately 40.88 million clinical hours (Table 7).

The travel time of 6.24 hours is estimated by calculating the weighted average of travel time by rural and urban nurses, considering a minimum journey of 12 hours per day for rural nurses and 3 hours per day for urban nurses. Urban:rural distribution is taken as approximately 64:36.

Time required for all Indian nurses to earn 1 CNE credit (Table 7)
Number of Indian nurses (as per Indian Nursing Council, 2022) 3.34 million
Study time required to earn 1 credit through a live event 5 hours
Average travel and socialising time 6.24 + 1 = 7.24 hours
Time required per nurse to earn 1 CNE credit hour 12.24 hours
Time required for all registered nurses to earn 1 CNE credit hour with a live event [12.24 * 3.34 million] = 40.88 million hours
Notes

  1. As per Indian nursing council guidelines, attendance of 5 hours at a conference entitles a nurse to 1 CNE credit.

  2. The study time required to gain 6 CNE credits is 30 hours. Therefore, the total time required for 6 credits is (30+ 37.44+6=) 73.44 hours. Exposing 3.34 million nurses in India to get 30 credit hours of CNE per year will require approximately 245.28 million clinical hours (Table 8).

Solution

  1. If CNEs in India could be conducted solely online, the yearly burden on nurses would be reduced to 30 hours per year, meaning that 43.44 clinical hours would remain available for clinical practice (Table 8) per nurse.

  2. If all nurses are considered, online CNE frees up 43.44. x 3.34 million = 145.08 million clinical hours annually for India only.

Time saved per nurses by 100% adoption of online CNE
Clinical time spent in earning CNE credits through live events (Table 8)
Participant time or clinical time spent (hours) Study time Travel time Socialising time Total time
Per nurses to earn 1 CNE credit hour 5 6.24 1 12.24
Per nurse per year (time required for 1 credit x 6) 30 37.44 6 73.44
Per nurse in 5 years (time required for 1 credit x 30) 150 187.2 30 367.2
Clinical time spent in earning CNE credits through online events
Per nurse to earn 1 CNE credit hour 5 0 0 5
Per nurse per year (time required for 1 credit x 6) 30 0 0 30
Per nurse in 5 years (time required for 1 credit x 30) 150 0 0 150
Impact of 100% adoption of online CE in INDIA (Table 9)
Number of hours saved per healthcare professional
  Total time spent in a live event (5 years) Total time spent in online event (5 years) Total time saved by adopting online CE (5 years)
Physicians 264 30 234
Dentists 247 100 147
Nurses 367.2 150 217.2
Total 878.2 280 598.2

If CE in India could be solely online, the yearly burden on health care workers would be reduced to 56 hours, meaning that for every re-licensing cycle 199 clinical hours would remain available for clinical practice (table 9).

For all Indian doctors, dentists and nurses, online CE saves 1.075 billion hours per 5 years.

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