Welcome to the AOE Compliance Connection, AOE’s monthly newsletter! This resource offers accreditation board bulletins for ACCME, ACPE, and ANCC, along with regulatory updates, highlights of AOE’s services, and information on upcoming activities and educational opportunities.
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We hope you enjoy this month’s edition of AOE Compliance Connection. We encourage you to visit www.aoeconsulting.com for more information, including a library of guidelines and weekly compliance tips!
Accreditation Board Bulletin
ACCME: The ACCME has proposed a menu of new criteria for Accreditation with Commendation with the goal of providing CME providers with the opportunity to select criteria appropriate for their organization.
The proposed menu is composed of 16 criteria grouped into five categories:
- Inclusive Teaching and Learning
- Addressing Public Health Priorities
- Creating Behavioral Change
- Demonstrating Leadership
- Achieving Outcomes
To achieve Accreditation with Commendation under the proposed menu of new criteria, an accredited CME provider will need to demonstrate compliance with:
- Existing core accreditation criteria 1 – 13
- At least one criterion from each of the five commendable categories
- At least eight of the commendation criteria, in total
The open call for providing feedback closed on February 16, 2016, and the ACCME Board of Directors will review the comments at its March 2016 meeting. The current commendation criteria will remain in place, and, upon finalization of the new commendation criteria, the board will release a transition plan to the CME community and stakeholders.
For more information, and to review the proposed menu of new criteria for Accreditation with Commendation, visit this ACCME link.
ACPE: The ACPE has released their CPE Provider March 2015 eUpdate, featuring announcements and reminders for providers. A highlight from this update, regarding CPE Monitor™ involves clarification around the 60-day participation time-frame.
Please note the following clarifications, provided by the ACPE:
- For Live CPE Activities: The provider must upload the participant information 60 days from the date the participant completed the CPE activity. This date must be identical to the live date listed in the CPE activity in the ACPE Provider Web Tool.
- For Home Study CPE Activities: The provider must upload the participant information 60 days from the date the participant completed the CPE activity. If the participant completes the enduring (home study) activity on the date of expiration, the provider will have 60 days post-expiration date to upload the participant information.
If there are circumstances whereby providers may not be able to meet this rule, please contact cpemonitor@acpe-accredit.org with the issue. To read the full eUpdate, click here.
ANCC: The ANCC has launched their new online system, the Primary Accreditation Online Review System (PAORS). Moving forward, accredited organization will submit all annual report and accreditation documentation through this newly developed platform. PAORS will begin to accept applications for initial and re-accreditation March 1-15, 2016 for the July 2016 review cycle. Effectively, the application package, which includes the Provider Accreditation Application, Evaluation of an Organization as a Commercial Interest Form and the CE Activity Summary, are now completed once you are logged into PAORS. Regarding this new system:
- Registration and account information must be registered to the Lead Nurse Planner for the Provider Unit.
- The Lead Nurse Planner will enter their email address and create a password.
- Once the account has been approved an email will be sent to the Lead Nurse Planner to confirm account set-up. This may take up to 24 hours.
- All ANCC application documents are located in PAORS, therefore no hard copies are required. Documents will no longer need to be emailed or sent via flash drive.
The Self-Study package (i.e. Self-Study and selected Activity Files) must also be uploaded to the PAORS system by July 1, 2016 for the July 2016 review cycle. Lastly, the 2015 Application Manual: Accreditation Program is not yet available for purchase, but please continue to monitor ANCC’s Primary Accreditation Application page for updates and availability of this new application manual.
Open Payments and CME
Questions continue to swirl around the PPSA and its connection to accredited providers’ respective CME programs. The most recent communication from the AMA confirms several conclusions that align with analysis provided by the CME Coalition and guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including:
Commercial supporters are prohibited from having any direct or indirect influence or control with respect to the content, faculty, speakers, or attendees or an educational program or activity. Therefore:
- Educational grants given to AMA certified and ACCME accredited programs, including online or enduring educational programs do not meet the definition of an “indirect payment” and therefore are exempt from reporting.
- CME-related payments that comply with independence standards such as the AMA’s certified and ACCME’s accredited CME programs are “not reportable regardless” of whether the manufacturer “learns the identity of the covered recipient” in any future timeframe because the transfer of value didn’t meet the definition of an indirect payment.
- When an applicable manufacturer conveys “full discretion” to the continuing education provider, those payments are outside the scope of the rule and thus, are not subject to reporting.
More details about the PPSA and recent communication from the AMA can be found here:
AOE in the Community
From January 13-16, AOE attended and exhibited at the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions Annual Meeting in National Harbor, Maryland. AOE works with multiple stakeholders in the CME/CE Enterprise to deliver tailored consulting and compliance training services, but we also consider ourselves a stakeholder within the CME/CE community.
As leaders in continuing medical education, we help you excel in the current environment by constantly educating ourselves. AOE takes pride in being an active voice in the many ongoing CME/CE conversations. We have been present at the Alliance conference every year since our establishment, and will continue to support and learn from the health professions community.
Upcoming Activities/Education Opportunities
- ACCME PARS Data Upload Deadline
March 31, 2016 - ANCC New Applicant Workshop
April 7, 2016, Silver Spring, MD
Read More >> - ACPE Administrator Workshop
April 14-15, 2016, Chicago IL
Read More >> - CME as a Bridge to Quality Accreditation Workshop
April 14-15, 2016, Chicago IL
Read More >> - Getting Started with Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education Workshop
April 20, 2016
Read More >>
