Discussion of the American Medical Association’s recent announcement of updates to the PRA Credit System. This video addresses updates to enduring materials and journal CME activities.
Transcript
Hi and welcome CME Watch, AOE Consulting’s video blog. CME Watch is intended to be a resource for partners as well as colleagues and is a venue where we will share regular updates specific to the continuing medical enterprise.
Today I will be covering information regarding to American Medical Association’s recent announcement of updates to the AMA PRA Credit system. In total there are 5 updates that affect both nationally accredited providers and state accredited providers. And these update each impact activities that will launch on or after July 1, 2011. The specific issue of CME Watch will cover the updates across three separate issues – this specific issue will cover updates to enduring activities as well as journal based CME activities. We’ve chosen to cover these two updates in tandem because the updates are the same for both enduring materials as well as journal based CME. By definition, enduring materials, which is one of the more common AMA activity formats is a format whereby an activity endures over a specified time.
Journal based CME activities do have enduring components but specifically, journal based CME activities include activities or articles that appear in peer review, professional journals. In order to be eligible for AMA PRA category 1 credit, that article must be approved and planned in accordance with the AMA’s requirements, as well as requirements put forth by the ACCME prior to the journal’s publication.
The updates to both of these activity formats are that providers are now required to incorporate a learning assessment – some sort of mechanism that assesses a learner’s performance. The term performance here does not refer to measured performance in practice, but rather the participant’s achievement of an activity’s learning objectives. Now, many providers have been incorporating post-tests as part of their journal based CME activities or enduring activities for some time, but it’s never been a formal requirement by the AMA. So, the AMA is now making explicit in requiring across providers that providers do incorporate some type of learning mechanism, such as a post-test; could be a simulation, or a case study. In addition, providers are having to determine what the minimum standards are that are required for a participant to receive credit, and these minimum standard requirements must then be communicated to participants before they engage a CME activity.
If you have any questions regarding the implementation of these updates as you plan future CME activities, please don’t hesitate to contact AOE.
