Impact of Web-Based Medical Education on Rhythm Control in Atrial Fibrillation: Retrospective Case–Control Analysis

Antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy remains underutilised in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), despite guideline recommendations. Web-based continuing medical education (CME) may improve clinician knowledge and performance, buteffect on real-world practice is less clear. This study evaluated the impact of CME on knowledge, competence, and confidence in rhythm control with AADs, and assessed real-world AAD use among cardiologists, internal medicine (IM), and general practitioners (GP). The study included two phases. Phase 1 assessed CME outcomes in a pre/post study of 207 US physicians. Phase 2 examined practice patterns through a retrospective, matched comparison of 501 physicians with claims data. Phase 1 demonstrated a 22% improvement in guideline-based AAD knowledge (59% vs 72%, p p p < .001). In Phase 2, the intervention group had a 3.20% increase in AAD use compared with 1.71% increase in the comparison group, with 6% more patients receiving AADs post-education. Web-based CME on guideline-based AAD selection improved physician knowledge, competence, and confidence, and increased real-world AAD utilisation.