This month, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) announced that it will be sending ACCME accredited providers an e-mail explaining the requirements for entering data into the Program & Activity Reporting System (PARS) and information about the educational and support resources available to providers.
The deadline for entering 2010 program and activity data from CME providers is March 31, 2011, to allow for the calculation of the ACCME 2010 Annual Report Data. Providers must submit this data through PARS.
For providers who need assistance with PARS, ACCME will be holding a series of free webinars, “Answering Your PARS Questions,” in February and March, to provide support in meeting data submission requirements. To access the ACCME online library of PARS educational resources, including video tutorials and FAQs, visit the PARS Help Page.
In addition, ACCME discussed the 2011 CME as a Bridge to Quality Accreditation Workshops, which are scheduled for May 3 –5 and August 17 – 19 in Chicago. The event will include “Self-Study for Accreditation” sessions in conjunction with each workshop. Providers whose next accreditation decisions are scheduled for July and November 2012, and March 2013 will be invited, and more information will be sent out to those providers in February,
The Accreditation Workshops offer participants the opportunity to work closely with ACCME staff, national CME leaders and colleagues to learn practical strategies for complying with accreditation requirements and positioning CME as a Bridge to Quality within their organizations. More workshop information is available here. Registration will open in February 2011.
Lastly, the ACCME monthly newsletter discussed the 2010 ACCME State/Territory Medical Society Conference: A Conference of Leaders, held December 15-16, in Chicago, which drew 50 participants from 31 states. The annual conference was a culmination of the ACCME’s 2010 education and outreach efforts for the intrastate accreditation system.
The four regional forums, held in New York, North Carolina, Missouri and Nevada, drew a total of 147 participants, including representatives from 78 intrastate providers and from 36 out of the 45 ACCME Recognized Accreditors. The ACCME offered monthly webinars and one-on-one consultations for Recognized Accreditors. In addition, ACCME executive staff attended or participated in the provider conferences and/or leadership meetings of the following 16 states’ medical societies: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.