ACCME Requirements
The role of the OCME is to ensure that all activities are in compliance with the ACCME Elements and Policies, including the Standards for Commercial Support. The ACCME expects that providers will have planning documentation, communication, and tracking systems in place to ensure that all necessary elements are present for any accredited educational activity.
Please click the links below to find out more information on each topic:
Planning
In order to evaluate any requests for accreditation, planning documentation must be submitted to the OCME for review. The Application for AMA Category 1 Credit is designed to outline the demonstrated need for the education, document the proposed course format and design, identify overarching educational objectives, describe teaching methods, and address opportunities for measuring outcomes that result from the learning.
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Faculty Communications
The faculty selection and confirmation process is an important element for RSSs. It is critical that all speakers receive confirmation of their involvement in an educational activity along with a clear understanding of the accreditation requirements. Each speaker should receive a Confirmation Letter, Disclosure Form, Speaker Consent Form, Sample Speaker Disclosure Slide, and Guidelines for CME Presentations. Speakers will need to complete and return the Disclosure Form, and Speaker Consent Form to the RSS Coordinator. Samples of these documents can be found on the Forms and Documents page.
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Disclosures and Processes
To be accredited, the OCME must ensure that presentations are fair and balanced, void of product and trade names, and free of commercial or promotional bias. To monitor and track this area, we require all planning committee members, the course director, speakers and discussion panel members to complete a financial disclosure form (prior to their confirmation) well in advance of their involvement in order to be eligible to participate in the educational activity. The disclosure form requires that they list any (and all) financial relationships they have with commercial companies involved in the topic area being presented.
The ACCME has Standards for Commercial Support and as a result, we have implemented a process for collecting, reviewing and relaying financial disclosure information. In compliance with those new standards, the following requirements have been adopted by the University of Minnesota:
Each planning team member and proposed faculty must complete and submit a financial disclosure form to the OCME for review and approval. This includes:
- Medical Director(s)
- Planning Committee Members
A review will be conducted of all disclosure information; as needed, any possible conflicts of interest will be managed and resolved using the Review Process outlined below.
For Speakers and Discussion Panel Members, the Medical Director is required to obtain and review disclosure information from each faculty member in advance of their speaking engagement. Any possible conflicts of interest must be managed and resolved using the Review Process outlined below. A Medical Director's signature on each disclosure document attests to the OCME that this step occurred.
Secondly, the audience participants in each session must receive notification of faculty disclosure (even if the speaker has nothing to disclose). The speaker must either have a disclosure slide or share their disclosure information verbally (preferably they do both). If it is disclosed verbally, the Course Director or a designee must sign an attestation confirming that it took place. The attestation questions can be found on the sign-in sheet. The OCME must have a copy of this attestation and the written notification (if applicable) in our files for each activity (please see the Attendance section for further information).
Review Process
- Disclosure information will be reviewed by the Medical Director and updates shared with the OCME in order to manage and resolve any possible conflicts of interest.
- No faculty member may participate in a presentation until their disclosure information is reviewed and approved.
- If a possible conflict of interest exists, steps will be taken to manage and resolve the situation. Actions will range from further review of course presentation materials, a change in format or (in rare cases) identification of a replacement speaker. Action taken should be documented on page 2 of the Disclosure Form or on additional correspondence to the OCME.
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Promotion/Publicity
There are certain requirements for promotion/publicity of RSSs that must be followed to receive CME credit. Promotional announcements must contain:
- University of Minnesota wordmark in top 1/3 (for University of MN departments)
- Educational objectives
- The correct sponsorship and designation statements (see Forms and Documents)
- Proper reference to the University of Minnesota as the sponsor (see Forms and Documents)
- Acknowledgment of financial support (if applicable)
A template for a promotional announcement is provided on the Forms and Documents page. This template has the most up-to-date wording for sponsorship and designation statements as well as acknowledgement for financial support.
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Evaluation
Each lecture of the conference or series must be evaluated by the audience. Certain questions are required pertaining to educational objectives, commercial bias, and impact on practice. Please see the Evaluation Template on the Forms and Documents page for the required questions. The template can be customized, as long as the required questions are included.
Evaluation summaries must be completed and sent to the OCME immediately following the activity. Be sure to retain the original evaluations in your files. We will look to you to incorporate the feedback into future course planning.
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Educational Support/Budget
Most Grand Rounds activities do not involve any expenses and/or honoraria. If educational support is received for this educational activity, there are three important issues to remember:
- Any requests for commercial support must be processed in advanced through the OCME.
- Letters of Agreement (LOAs) must be signed with all companies providing support spelling out the terms of our agreement. (e.g., activities must be planned and topics/speakers selected independent of any influence or involvement by the supporter).
- Acknowledgement of any organization providing support for the series/activity must be listed in the promotion and course materials.
If you anticipate making requests for commercial support for any of the activities within the series, please contact the OCME. We will need to review and approve the following information:
- Topic
- Proposed speaker (name, contact information, brief bio)
- Educational Objectives
- Proposed Budget (to include honorarium, travel, etc.)
It is required that requests for educational grants from commercial supporters be submitted through our office and well in advance (due to online grant deadlines, a minimum timeline is typically 60-90 days ahead of the activity). We also need to approve proposed faculty honoraria and reimbursement.
The ACCME requires the accredited provider (the University of Minnesota) to oversee the management and disbursement of any funds. If there is course revenue or expense, please send us a preliminary budget for review and approval in the planning phase and a final budget at the conclusion of the activity. A budget template can be found on the Forms and Documents page.
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Attendance
Participant attendance must be tracked by requiring attendees to sign in. Our office requires that sign-in/out sheet be posted at the registration desk to track the attendance, so they may claim the appropriate number of credits. We require that an Excel list of participants, noting their degree, be emailed to the OCME. The OCME is required to report these attendance figures annually (i.e., the number of credits, and the number of physicians and non-physicians in attendance) and to maintain these records for a period of six (6) years. For purposes of our reporting, we request that you reflect (next to the title of the activity on the spread sheet) the total number of physicians and non-physicians attending this activity, and the number of credits claimed for each individual. Therefore, it is critical that you capture degree information from all attendees.
A Certificate of Participation will be generated by the OCME from this attendance list once or twice a year. These will be mailed to the RSS Coordinator for distribution to the attendees.
The sign-in sheet also contains an attestation statement that requires the Medical Director signature (or their designee). This form must be returned to our office in order to help ensure your oversight and our overall compliance on matters related to disclosures and commercial support.
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