Engagement: Criteria for Accreditation with Commendation
Part 3 of a series on the ACCME updated criteria, C16-C22

Identifying Uncontrollable Barriers

As part of our series on the seven new criteria added by the ACCME in their update of their essential elements for education, we now focus on the third of these criteria. As your ACCME provider, CFMC is required to implement these changes in all educational programs that we joint sponsor to award credit. Our goal is to educate our joint sponsors so that they can develop their programs in a way that each activity will meet the mandated criteria for CME.

Criteria 18: The provider identifies factors outside the provider’s control that impact on patient outcomes.

As part of the recognition that both CME offices and providers are part of the overall healthcare delivery system, Criteria 18 seeks to transform change by identifying and analyzing any factors uncontrollable to the provider that might impact patient outcomes. The goal is for providers to identify these barriers as the first step in either removing or overcoming them, and by doing so, to affect patient outcomes positively. Evaluating which parts of the system are at the root of negative impact on quality or safety is critical in achieving this goal. Through analysis of both internal and external factors affecting a provider’s capabilities, the provider will also be able to determine which other stakeholders have the necessary resources to overcome these barriers.

In designing one’s CME program and subsequent educational activities, these factors should be assessed and considered. Doing so, whether by new methods or integration into your existing organizational arrangement, will assist in policy decisions toward the program’s role in improving patient outcomes. For example, surveys of these barriers can be directly added to activity planning. New documentation methods can similarly be added. When identifying factors outside provider control, such as financial, communication, or current scientific resources, organizing and categorizing them can assist toward unified goals of overcoming them.

As with other ACCME criteria, open and regular collaboration on the educational process is key toward an effective program design. Working together and creating the means or a process to identify outside or uncontrollable factors is the first step toward positively affecting patient outcomes. Identifying these factors is also the first step toward the subject of Criteria 19, the implementation of educational strategies to manage or remove any barriers to physician change, to be discussed in our next article.

—D.A.

Resources:

1. ”Engagement: Criteria for Accreditation with Commendation (C16 – C22)”. ACCME Accreditation Findings Based on the 2006 Accreditation Criteria. Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. p. 11.
2. ”Leading Transformational Change in CME: Criterion 18 Best Practices,” Donna Guadagnoli, CCMEP, et al. Almanac. Alliance for CME. Volume 32, No. 1. January 2010. pp. 5-7.

The Road to Success is Lined with Good Documentation

When organizing your conference, it can seem like there are too many documents and forms that need to be submitted in order to receive credit. Things seem to become due just when you have an overload of tasks on your plate. While parts of the accreditation process can feel tedious and insignificant, the fact is that each part of the process is an important step in receiving credit as well as in making your conference a success.

Completing your application, as well as any pre activity documents, allows the CFMC staff to understand why your activity should receive CME/CNE credits. The staff is very interested in the success of your activity and provides the highest level of customer support. Upon the staff’s review, your activity is recommended to CFMC’s Continuing Education Committee peer review that recommends moving forward to award credit. Other important forms include speaker’s biographies and disclosure forms. You are not alone, the CFMC staff is ready to help you each step of the way. The process is designed to not only fulfill the requirements of governing agencies, but to help your conference be a successful one.

Contact Lorraine Pickrell at 800-950-8250, ext. 3372, or lpickrell@cfmc.org, if you would like more information about the services CFMC can provide to help you succeed. Visit us on the web at www.yourCEsource.org.

CFMC Upcoming Educational Activities

Visit yourCEsource.org for a complete list of upcoming educational activities.