Promoting free intimate partner violence education for physician: What works at what cost?

Background: Physicians play a pivotal role in recognizing intimate partner (domestic) violence (IPV), dealing with its medical consequences, engaging law enforcement, and connecting patients to community resources. Numerous studies support the need for more physician IPV education, but there is little information on strategies to engage community physicians in educational programs designed to enhance IPV management skills.

Methods: We evaluated the costs and effectiveness of different advertising strategies in attracting California physicians to a free online IPV CME program. The program was endorsed by major California physician organizations, adhered to current best practices in online education, and was developed with NIH funding.

Results: The online IPV program was accessed by 1,650 MD/DOs (1.8% of target market) over 18 months. A telephone survey at 16 months showed that 24% of target physicians were aware of the program. Direct advertising costs were $73 per physician user. The most effective advertising strategy was direct mail, accounting for 41% of users, at a cost of $148 per user. The most cost-effective paid strategy was direct e-mail (spam), which cost $58 per physician. Word of mouth, opinion leader endorsements, notices in medical publications and other “free” forms of advertising accounted for 44% of users.

Conclusions: These data provide benchmarks for community-based provider IPV education efforts. Despite the removal of many barriers, such as program cost and access, as well as the benefits of strong professional endorsements, it required $73 per user to attract about two percent of California physicians to an online IPV CME program.