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Audio-Digest Foundation is a Learner's Digest International business, as well as an affiliate of the California Medical Association. Audio-Digest began operations in 1953, and currently employs 70 full-time staff members. Its corporate headquarters and recording facilities are located in Glendale, California.

Audio-Digest produces CME/CE audio programs, delivered to physicians and healthcare professionals on a subscription basis. These CME/CE programs include 13 specialty series and one jointly produced activity.

All Audio-Digest programs can be used for credit or contact hours by physicians, physician-assistants, and nurses. As well, particular Audio-Digest programs can be used for credit or contact hours by certified registered nurse anesthetists, psychologists, optometrists, ophthalmic technicians, and registered dietitians or dietetic technicians, registered.

Specialty Services

 * ACCEL (12 issues per year)
 * Anesthesiology (24 issues per year)
 * Diabetes Insight (24 issues per year)
 * Emergency Medicine (24 issues per year)
 * Family Practice (24 or 48 issues per year)
 * Gastroenterology (24 issues per year)
 * General Surgery (24 issues per year)
 * Internal Medicine (24 issues per year)
 * Neurology (24 issues per year)
 * Obstetrics/Gynecology (24 issues per year)
 * Oncology (24 issues per year)
 * Ophthalmology (24 issues per year)
 * Orthopaedics (24 issues per year)
 * Otolaryngology (24 issues per year)
 * Pediatrics (24 issues per year)
 * Psychiatry (24 issues per year)
 * Urology (24 issues per year)
 * Journal Watch Audio General Medicine (24 issues per year)

Education Process
Audio-Digest produces more than 300 audio CME/CE programs each year. These programs are derived from lectures recorded at more than 285 CME/CE meetings across the country, always with permission of the sponsoring organizations and the lecturers involved.Of the thousands of lectures recorded each year, only 12% to 15% are featured on Audio-Digest.

Needs Assessment

 * Audio-Digest's CME/CE Planning Committee provides overall guidance and direction in the development of CME/CE activities.
 * Each audio CME/CE program includes a needs-assessment survey, asking participants to list topics they would like included on future programs and to identify problems in their practice setting.
 * Audio-Digest editors review participants' requests for topics as well as scour current medical literature, expert opinions, specialty board competencies, etc to stay current in - and sometimes portend - advances and developments in clinical practice and healthcare trends.
 * Each audio CME/CE program includes a 10-question test to be taken before and after listening to the program to demonstrate that a learning process has occurred.

Educational Objectives
The objective of Audio-Digest CME/CE activities is to update healthcare professionals on advances in the diagnosis and management of medical disorders. The primary goal of each activity is to provide practical information that will improve professional competence in caring for patients.

After hearing an Audio-Digest program, the clinician should be able to:
 * Recognize the signs and symptoms of the various disorders discussed and obtain a clear understanding of the associated physiologic changes;
 * Selectively apply and interpret newer diagnostic tests and procedures for a particular patient population;
 * Initiate the appropriate treatment and, when indicated, refer the patient for further in-depth evaluation or intervention; and
 * Critically evaluate and utilize recent advances in technology and pharmacology, when appropriate.

Design and Implementation
Steps taken to produce our audio CME/CE product:
 * Audio-Digest editors evaluate hundreds of meeting brochures each year
 * The meeting sponsor gives permission to audio record the proceedings
 * Faculty members give permission to publish their lectures
 * Audio-Digest hires a local audio-recording company to record the meeting
 * Complimentary copies of recordings are made for the meeting sponsor on request
 * Audio-Digest's medical editors audition recorded lectures to select the best candidates for publication, paying attention to topic relevance, speakers' credentials, potential for bias, etc.
 * Lectures selected for Audio-Digest are edited to remove visual references, lengthy pauses, and any extraneous sounds
 * An Audio-Digest medical editor writes a summary of the audio program, including educational objectives, faculty disclosures, suggested reading, and a test question/evaluation survey
 * Audio-Digest's sound engineers enhance the audio quality when necessary and combine introductions, transitions, and edited lectures onto a digital master for duplication on CD
 * The audio program, written summary and test materials are sent to participants by mail or made available to them online by subscription.

Evaluation
To earn CME credit or CE contact hours with Audio-Digest CME/CE programs, the participant must complete both the pretest (to assess the initial level of knowledge) and the posttest (to demonstrate that learning has occurred). The participant must achieve 80% or greater on the posttest to earn Category 1 CME credits* or CE contact hours.

Contributions
A critical component of the Audio-Digest Foundation mission is a commitment to maintain productive relationships with other CME/CE providers, bolstering their efforts and providing active patronage for their educational activities.

The Foundation has reciprocal mechanisms in place to enhance and enrich the activities of other CME/CE providers, including promotional support and grant opportunities.