AOE Compliance Connection – April 2021 Newsletter

Welcome to the April edition of AOE Compliance Connection, AOE’s monthly newsletter. This month’s newsletter includes “what to expect” information about the upcoming ACCME 2021 Meeting, spotlights on two AOE abstracts that have been accepted for the July Alliance Connect Conference, and a deeper dive into Standard 1 of the new Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Equipping you and your team remains a high priority for us, and we keep our site up to date with CE in the news updates and helpful weekly compliance tips. As always, reach out to us at inquire@aoeconsulting.com!

The ACCME 2021 Live Virtual Meeting, scheduled for April 27-29, is open for registration and is aiming to be a time of celebration for the healthcare community. The theme, Embracing Change, was selected because it “embodies the strength of our education community as we strive each day to engage healthcare learners and their care communities in adapting, improving, and leading transformation.”

If you are considering attending (or are already registered), here are a few things to expect!

• Keynote Address: As usual, a keynote presentation will be the focal point of the meeting. This year, Graham McMahon, MD MMSc, ACCME President and CEO, will be taking the lead to address Planning for the Post-pandemic Future: Strategies for Adapting to a Transformed Healthcare Ecosystem.
• Working Groups: A new addition to the annual meeting, Working Groups are optional meetings that take place prior to the meeting. Registration has closed because the groups have been meeting since April 5, engaging with peers through specialized conversation, collaboration, and resource development. AOE Program Manager, Sarah Ryan, PhD, is currently involved in the Working Group “Apply Standards for Integrity & Independence in Academic CPD: Successful Frontline Management”.
• Homerooms: A small daily gathering (30-40 peers) in which you can share highlights from the sessions you attended and hear key points from sessions you were not able to attend.
• Concurrent Sessions: Planned to begin on Day 1 of the meeting, this is a series of in-depth dialogues on timely strategic topics including post-COVID planning, IPCE education, the well-being of the work force, and the new Standards for Integrity and Independence.
• Virtual Research Exchange: Live now (here), you can look through the many research projects submitted by meeting attendees. On Day 1 of the meeting, you can join live chats about the varied projects.
• Inspire & Teach! These peer-led sessions will take place on Day 2 and will focus on innovation: exchanging effective practices and developing new approaches.
• Special Topic Session: This year’s special topic will be Addressing Stigma and will center on the educational community’s role in addressing racism, bias, and health inequities. Breakout groups will meet following the plenary session to dive deeper into the implications and opportunities.
• Community: A voluntary portion of the meeting, for those wishing to network and connect with other attendees: Registration is open.

The Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education were released in December 2020, officially replacing the established Standards for Commercial Support. As all providers will be required to comply with the new Standards by January 1, 2022, now is an advantageous time for a deep dive into each of the 5 new Standards. AOE is poised to help your organization make this transition and train your team in achieving (and documenting) compliance with the new Standards – connect with us to find out more. As part of that service, over the next few months, AOE will feature one standard per newsletter, to offer readers insight and tools beyond a surface level.

The new Standards have been adopted by multiple boards in addition to the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME); they have been adopted by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry’s Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (ARBO/COPE), and Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education.

The first of the 5 Standards, Standard 1 pertains to ensuring content is valid. “Accredited providers are responsible for ensuring that their education is fair and balanced and that any clinical content presented supports safe, effective patient care.”

The various components of the standard flesh out the content validity requirements for compliant providers:

1. All recommendations for patient care in accredited continuing education must be based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning, while giving a fair and balanced view of diagnostic and therapeutic options.
2. All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in accredited education in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
3. Although accredited continuing education is an appropriate place to discuss, debate, and explore new and evolving topics, these areas need to be clearly identified as such within the program and individual presentations. It is the responsibility of accredited providers to facilitate engagement with these topics without advocating for, or promoting, practices that are not, or not yet, adequately based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning.
4. Organizations cannot be accredited if they advocate for unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy, or if their education promotes recommendations, treatment, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients.

In order to document compliance with Standard 1, organizations can utilize a template created by the ACCME. This sample clinical content review form includes all the necessary components.

More information about all the new Standards can be found here.