2026 Big Cedar | Primary Care Update

VIRTUAL OPTION NOW AVAILABLE!

Live attendance required to receive credits.

ACTIVITY DETAILS

Primary Care Update

December 3-5, 2026

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

Lecture topics were chosen based upon our annual CME Needs Assessment survey, physician identified practice gaps, and recommendations of key experts. Topics will be presented to address the individual physician gaps in knowledge, skills, and attitudes within the practice environment. This activity seeks to update attendees on the latest recommendations involving medical subspecialty topics commonly seen within primary care physicians' practices.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

After attending this course Participants will be able to: 

• Assess and provide patients with an accurate diagnosis and optimal care for a broad range of diseases and conditions seen in primary care.
• Discuss and utilize current guidelines in the diagnosis and management of commonly encountered therapeutic issues.
• Formulate comprehensive evidence-based interventions and treatment strategies that will lead to the reduction of modifiable risk factors and improve long-term outcomes.
• Incorporate osteopathic principles and practice into patient care.

CORE COMPETENCIES

CME activities must address one or more of the AOA seven core competencies. The core competencies addressed by this activity are highlighted below:

• Osteopathic Principles and Practice
• Medical Knowledge and Its Application into Osteopathic Medical Practice
• Osteopathic Patient Care
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills in Osteopathic Medical Practice
• Professionalism in Osteopathic Medical Practice
• Osteopathic Medical Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
• System-Based Osteopathic Medical Practice

OSTEOPATHIC TENETS

• The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind, and spirit.
• The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing, and health maintenance.
• Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.
• Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation, and the interrelationship of structure and function.

TARGET AUDIENCE

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE GAP

A significant gap exists between physician practice, science and clinical practice guidelines. Evidence has shown that primary care providers (PCPs) often lack the up-to-date skills, the time to keep up-to-date and the ability and strategies to address patients seen with chronic conditions within their practice. People are increasingly living for longer with multimorbidity. With 47% presenting with multiple disease states, conditions can be difficult to diagnose, treat and the practitioner is faced with patients who are non-compliant. Strategies and updated guidelines presented in this CME program will provide new interventions and treatment options to help physicians cope with difficult to manage cases.

EDUCATIONAL NEED

PCPs conduct most of the evidence-based disease prevention and screening within the current healthcare system. There remains a gap between the recommended preventive services and actual practice, as well as patient adherence to prescribed treatment. Currently, most chronic illness care takes place in primary care practices, which provides some disadvantages and serious limitations. This trend puts greater demands on the primary care professional to address the frontline needs of patients presenting with multiple chronic conditions. Additionally, people are increasingly living longer with multimorbidity.

Of the 133 million patients with chronic diseases, 47% have more than one diagnosis. On average, PCPs manage 3.05 problems per visit and the number of problems has grown to 3.88 for people over the age of 65. A PCP handles multiple diseases and complications within a single office visit.

This CME activity will provide an update on standards of care in order to reflect the most current evidence-based knowledge and guidelines to improve competence.

DESIRED OUTCOME

This course is designed to provide interactive educational activities that discuss complicated case scenarios that have been shown to improve participant application of evidence-based medicine for patients with multiple chronic comorbidities. Providing a format for adult learning that includes lectures, case-based studies, interactive question and answer sessions, collaborative sharing of patient care issues, and networking with other healthcare professionals has shown to improve participant knowledge and competency.