August 2016
What's New in CME?
ACCME Annual Report Data Released
The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) 2015 Annual Report shows growth and diversity of accredited CME. The report includes data from a community of nearly 1,900 accredited continuing medical education (CME) providers across the country that offer physicians and health care teams an array of resources to promote quality, safety, and the evolution of health care. CME providers (includes state-accredited providers) in the ACCME system offered more than 148,000 educational activities in 2015, comprising more than 1 million hours of instruction. These activities included nearly 26 million interactions with physicians and other health care professionals. The numbers of activities, hours of instruction, and participants have increased since 2014. The number of CME activities has increased an average of 3 percent each year since 2010.
CME That Counts for ABIM MOC — Evaluation Tool
In September 2015, ACCME and the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) collaborated to simplify the integration of Maintenance of Certification (MOC) and accredited CME. In April 2016, ACCME released a resource that includes examples of evaluation approaches CME providers can use in activities that count for ABIM MOC.
Check out CME that Counts for ABIM MOC for requirements, resources, and more.
Accreditation Council for CME, American Board of Anesthesiology, and American Board of Pediatrics Announce Collaborations in Support of Physician Lifelong Learning
The goal of the collaborations is to simplify the integration of accredited continuing medical education (CME) and MOC. The collaborations expand the number and diversity of accredited CME activities that meet the Boards’ MOC requirements for lifelong learning and self-assessment (Part 2), and streamline the MOC process for accredited CME organizations and board-certified physicians.
The ACCME, American Board of Anesthesiology, and American Board of Pediatrics expect to have the processes open for accredited CME providers later this year or in early 2017. More information will be announced as it becomes available.
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In the Spotlight
Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare Achieves Accreditation with Commendation
At its June 2016 meeting, the TMA Committee on Continuing Education awarded Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare Accreditation with Commendation, which confers a six-year term of accreditation. Congratulations! Fifty percent of TMA-accredited providers hold Accreditation with Commendation.
Award Recipient: Janise McPherson
Janise McPherson, CME Program Manager at UT Health Science Center Tyler, was the recipient of the Texas Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (TACME) 2016 Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2016 Texas CME Conference in Austin. The purpose of this award is to recognize a member of TACME for outstanding achievement in CME and contribution to the CME community. Congratulations Janise!
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Noteworthy News
Strategies and Reminders to Help Ensure Compliance with the ACCME Standards
CME providers use the ACCME’s Standards for Commercial Support: Standards to Ensure Independence in CME ActivitiesSM (the Standards) as a mechanism to help minimize bias and provide transparency in accredited CME. Even if you don’t accept commercial support for your activities, you still need to use the Standards to identify and resolve conflicts of interest for speakers and planners.
Over the last few years, compliance rates with the Standards have improved; however, noncompliance with the Standards remains a common cause of noncompliance findings for accredited CME providers. To support accredited providers in achieving and sustaining compliance, and as requested by participants at the 2016 Texas CME Conference, a one-page document that includes strategies and reminders is available as a resource on TMA’s website.
For more information about the Standards, visit the ACCME website, which features many examples of compliance and noncompliance with each standard.
You can also email Casey Harrison with suggestions for additional resources or successful strategies you’d like to share with your colleagues.
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Leading Change: Improving the Quality and Delivery of Medical Education
Online Discussion Forum
In response to a discussion toward the end of the keynote presentation at the 2016 Texas CME Conference, TMA is working on establishing a discussion forum for accredited providers in Texas. The forum provides an opportunity to share creative and innovative ideas to improve the delivery/effectiveness of your organization’s educational activities that you have implemented or are thinking about implementing. Stay tuned for more information.
Submit your ideas, best practices, and suggestions to Casey Harrison for possible publication in the newsletter.
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Q&A
AMA & PARS - number of credits to enter vs. hours of instruction
Q: When entering data in ACCME’s Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS), should the number entered for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits designated for the activity be the same as the number entered for Hours of Instruction?
A: Hours of Instruction and AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ designated may be the same or may be different. Here are three examples for demonstrating how to enter this data in PARS:
- Pediatric Grand Rounds is planned for the entire year as one series. In 2015, they met weekly during the year for one hour each week. In PARS, the series should be entered as one activity with 52 hours of instruction and designated for 52 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
- Tumor Boards is planned for the entire year as one series. In 2015, they met weekly during the year for one hour each week, except on New Year’s Day. In PARS, the series should be entered as one activity with 51 hours of instruction and designated for 51 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
- New Technology in Pediatric Medicine is a two-day conference (eight hours each day). Only the first day of the conference will be designated for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. In PARS, the activity should be entered as one activity with 16 hours of instruction and designated for 8 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
If you have questions or challenges, please contact Casey Harrison in the TMA CME office. Do not contact the ACCME, which will direct you to TMA. Questions and challenges selected will not include identifiable information.
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Upcoming Events
2016 Texas CME Conference Highlights and Conference Handouts Available for Purchase
One-hundred twenty attendees gathered in Austin for the recent 2016 Texas CME Conference jointly provided by TMA and the Texas Alliance for CME. The focus of the conference was on leading and driving change in CME and specifically related to these topics:
- Innovation and creativity in education,
- MOC and CME,
- Quality improvement,
- Strategies for streamlining Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS),
- Strategies for meeting the proposed menu of accreditation with commendation criteria,
- First Annual Abstract Presentation: Performance in Practice — Preparing for Joint Accreditation Certification,
- How to write an executive summary to grantors,
- Joint providerships,
- CME program evaluation, and
- State of the profession.
Tym Peters, MS, director of office of CME, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and Steve Singer, PhD, vice president for education and outreach, ACCME, delivered the Mark Gregg Inaugural Distinguished Lecture on creativity and innovation and creativity in education. Tym and Steve shared factors that limit the impact of CME activities; simple opportunities to bring innovation and creativity to the design of educational activities; and methods and modalities to consider when incorporating creativity and innovation in educational activities.
Steve Singer, PhD, vice president for education and outreach, ACCME, also addressed collaboration, value and opportunities for accredited providers regarding CME and MOC. Casey Harrison, MBA, director of CME at TMA, led two panel discussions. The first panel included Leticia Zuniga Bresnahan, MBA, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio; Gayla Bruner, RN, BSN, Memorial Hermann Health System, Houston; and Dena Silva, CHCP, The University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth. The panel identified “must-have” elements to effectively integrate quality improvement and CME and described benefits and challenges of aligning QI with CME. The second panel included Deb Jorden, MS, CHES, CHCP, Cook Children’s, Fort Worth; Chris Ralls, MBA, PMP, CHCP, Houston Methodist; and Jessica Stewart, CHCP, Texas Health Research and Education Institute, Dallas. The panel shared ideas, tools, and processes from planning to evaluation to tracking documentation to recording attendance for RSSs.
The conference featured multiple breakout sessions to reinforce leading and driving change in CME. The conference also offered a panel discussion session facilitated by Jen Cabrera, BBA, BSBM, Cook Children’s, Fort Worth, on accreditation with commendation and winning ideas from 2015. Additionally, the conference offered a CME basics course, a newcomer session on TMA CME survey process/documentation, a mentor/mentee program, and exhibits with products of interest to CME providers. If representatives from your organization were unable to attend and would like access to the handouts, helpful resources to use back at the office, sample forms, compiled summaries of responses during some of the interactive sessions, and information regarding hot topics, the link to the 2016 Texas CME Conference handouts page is available to purchase for $30.
If you want to purchase the webpage link with handouts and resources from the conference, please email Casey Harrison, or call (800) 880-1300, ext. 1446.
Join Colleagues at the 2017 ACEhp Conference
Save the date for the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Profession’s 42nd Annual Conference, Jan. 26–29, 2017, at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. The conference will focus on Shaping Our Profession. Demonstrating our value focuses on how we can lead, advocate, collaborate, innovate, and prove the value that continuing education and professional development have in improving health care provider competence, performance, patient outcomes, and ultimately, population health.
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Right at Your Fingertips: CME Resources
TMA website: sample forms, how to implement criteria, documents for reaccreditation, and past TMA Accreditation Connection newsletters
ACCME website: frequently asked questions, compendium of noncompliance and compliance examples
AMA website frequently asked questions relating to certifying activities for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
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New to CME
- Schedule a training session with TMA CME staff. Staff can train on-site at your organization or ours. Email Casey Harrison for more information.
- Sign up to receive THE ACCME Report, ACCME’s monthly enewsletter.
- Join TACME, a nonprofit Texas corporation created to promote quality CME in the state of Texas. TACME provides opportunities for professional growth and development to all individual professionals and representatives of institutions and commercial companies involved with planning, implementing, and/or supporting CME in Texas.
- Join ACEhp, which offers innovative interprofessional educational programs and services to thousands of CE/CME/CPD educators who use their knowledge, skills, and expertise to improve health outcomes. Members include professionals working in hospitals and health systems, academic medical centers, medical specialty societies, medical education communication companies, the government, and the pharmaceutical/medical device/biotech industries.
- Attend the 2017 Texas CME Conference. Details will be distributed in September to accredited providers. The conference includes newcomer sessions on accreditation requirements, policies, processes and documentation of activities, and a mentor/mentee program.
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