Release Date: April 1, 2010
Expiration Date: April 1, 2011
Estimated time to complete activity: 2.75 hours

How to obtain CME credit
Please go online to http://www.cmeuniversity.com and enter
Course ID 7130 and complete the posttest, evaluation, and
credit request in order to receive CME credit for “The dawn of
a new era: Transforming our domestic response to hepatitis
B & C.”
You will be able to print out your certificate upon notification
that you have passed the posttest with a score of 70%
or better.

Diseases associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis
C virus (HCV) create a considerable burden on the nation’s
health care system and pose many challenges in terms of effective
identification, treatment, and patient management.
Both chronic HBV and HCV infections are often asymptomatic,
earning them reputations as silent killers. Many individuals
are unaware that they are infected until they develop signs
or symptoms of cirrhosis or liver cancer. As many as 2 million
Americans are infected with HBV and 5 million are infected
with HCV. Despite this large patient population, standards for
virus prevention, screening, and clinical care are currently inadequate,
resulting in a major unmet medical need.
 

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs
of physicians and physician assistants involved in the care of
patients with chronic HBV and HCV.
 

After completing this activity, the participant should be better
able to:
• Describe the need for a coordinated national response to
chronic HBV and HCV
• Identify improved strategies for the screening, diagnosis,
treatment, and care of people with HBV or HCV
• Outline the most recent recommendations from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention on screening and
managing HBV and HCV infections in clinical practice
• Differentiate among available therapeutic agents for HBV
and HCV to optimize treatment
• Identify factors that might affect the response to treatment
of infected individuals
• Describe specific treatment and management strategies
in order to delay the onset of liver disease
• Identify the ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic disparities
in chronic liver disease, including hepatocellular carcinoma,
and screening
• Specify strategies to overcome ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic
disparities in the screening and diagnosis of
patients with chronic liver disease
 

Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance
with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation
Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)
through the joint sponsorship of Postgraduate Institute for
Medicine (PIM) and HealthmattersCME. PIM is accredited
by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education
for physicians.
Credit Designation
PIM designates this educational activity for a maximum of
2.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only
claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation
in the activity.
 

PIM assesses conflict of interest with its instructors, planners,
managers, and other individuals who are in a position to control
the content of CME activities. All relevant conflicts of interest
that are identified are thoroughly vetted by PIM for fair
balance, scientific objectivity of studies utilized in this activity,
and patient care recommendations. PIM is committed to providing
its learners with high-quality CME activities and related
materials that promote improvements or quality in health
care and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial
interest.
The planners and managers reported the following financial
relationships or relationships to products or devices they
or their spouse/life partner have with commercial interests related
to the content of this CME activity:
PIM planners and managers—Jan Hixon, RN, BSN, MA; Trace
Hutchison, PharmD; Julia Kimball, RN, BSN; Samantha Mattiucci,
PharmD; and Jan Schultz, RN, MSN, CCMEP—hereby state
that they or their spouse/life partner do not have any financial
relationships or relationships to products or devices with any
commercial interest related to the content of this activity of any
amount during the past 12 months.
HealthmattersCME planners and manager—James Murphy
and Yelena Lyustikman—hereby state that they or their spouse/
life partner do not have any financial relationships or relationships
to products or devices with any commercial interest related
to the content of this activity of any amount during the past
12 months.
 

This educational activity may contain discussion of published
and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by
the FDA. PIM, HealthmattersCME, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead
Sciences Inc., and Vertex Pharmaceuticals do not recommend
the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.
The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those
of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of PIM,
HealthmattersCME, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences Inc.,
and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Please refer to the official prescribing
information for each product for discussion of approved indications,
contraindications, and warnings.
 

There are no fees for participating and receiving CME credit for
this activity. During the period April 1, 2010, through April 1,
2011, participants must (1) read the learning objectives and faculty
disclosures; (2) study the educational activity; (3) complete
the posttest by going to http://www.cmeuniversity.com, entering
Course ID 7130, and recording the best answer to each question;
and (4) complete the evaluation form and credit request.
A statement of credit will be issued only upon receipt of a
completed activity evaluation form and a completed posttest
with a score of 70% or better.
 

Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired
information to enhance patient outcomes and their own
professional development. The information presented in this
activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management.
Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis
or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should
not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s
conditions and possible contraindications on dangers in use, review
of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and
comparison with recommendations of other authorities.
 

 
This activity is jointly sponsored by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and HealthmattersCME.



This activity is sponsored by independent educational grants provided by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences Inc., and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

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