Vivacity Consulting

Bringing energy and experience to your CME activity

Adding Value to Your CME Program: ABIM Part 2 MOC Credits

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CME Providers: Add ABIM Part 2 MOC Credits to Your Program Now

You are already providing high quality medical education to your physician learners. You can now help learners even more by providing required American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) medical knowledge points.

The ABIM requires physicians to obtain 20 medical knowledge points every five years, and must complete at least one MOC activity every two years. Your activities can be adapted to satisfy this requirement.

Over 200,000 physicians in the United States are Board Certified by the ABIM, including internal medicine physicians, and specialists in endocrinology, rheumatology, cardiology, infectious disease, gastroenterology, critical care, medical oncology, and more.

Help your physicians fulfill their requirements by adding ABIM Part 2 MOC credits to your CME program.

Recently, the ABIM have revised requirements so that accredited CME providers may offer education that is eligible for MOC points. This opportunity adds tremendous value to your CME program. 

All regulatory changes require a modified approach to compliance, but the ABIM and ACCME/IMQ have collaborated to minimize the impact upon providers. You probably do not need to make very many changes to the excellent education you are already offering. At the recent IMQ Provider Conference, the ACCME CEO, Dr. Graham McMahon encouraged CME providers to consider adding ABIM Part 2 MOC to their program.

If this will add value to your activities and your organization in the eyes of attendees, but you are not sure how to make this happen, Vivacity Consulting can help. We are seasoned CME professionals with extensive experience working with hospitals, health systems, specialty societies and medical education companies.

Please contact us to learn about our pricing structure. We will assess your program, help you edit your documentation, recommend process improvements, and assist with reporting requirements.

If you are ready to give physicians the credit they deserve for the education you are already providing, contact Vivacity Consulting to help.

You might be interested in the following post as well, entitled, “Who Me, Provide MOC?”

Vivacity Consulting Invited to Present at 2016 ACEhp Conference

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Vivacity Consulting will Present during the Alliance for CE in the Health Professions 2016 Conference

Ms. Schwarz will lead two sessions at the ACEhp Conference, to be held Jan 13 – 16, 2016 at the Gaylord National, National Harbor, Maryland (near Washington DC).

Shades of Gray: Drawing the Line on Employees of Commercial Interests

Thursday, January 14, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Primary Presenter:

Erin Schwarz, CEO/Principal Consultant, Vivacity Consulting, LLC, Foothill Ranch, California

Co-Presenter(s):

Jacqueline Steltz-Lenarsky, MA, Manager, Continuing Medical Education, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, Burbank, California

Anne Grupe, MSEd, Director, CME, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Alexandria, Virginia

Session Description
As the healthcare landscape gets more complex, many organizations are finding that they must to react to situations instead of being prepared proactively. This applies particularly to the issues relating to the use of employees of commercial interests.

During this session, we will outline four elements that must be involved when considering

  • What do the rules say (and not say)?
  • What are your audience needs?
  • How do you make a decision as interpreter of these rules? What is your policy?
  • How do you reassess your policy so it is a living document?

Throughout the presentation we will give examples from our own experiences. Attendees will gain new ideas and strategies that they might implement into their own practice as they guide their own programs to compliant, impactful education.

 

My Crummy Story: How I Got Out of a Bad Situation and How You Can Too

Friday, January 15, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Primary Presenter:

Erin Schwarz, CEO/Principal Consultant, Vivacity Consulting, LLC, Foothill Ranch, California

Co-Presenter(s):

Philip A. Dombrowski, MBA, FACEHP, President, PD Associates, Bomoseen, Vermont

Art Arellano, Professional Education Manager, American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL)

Session Description
Have you every found yourself in a crummy situation and wished you had a fairy godmother that could get you out of it? The ACEhp can be the source of multiple fairy godmothers (and godfathers). In this session, three experienced CE professionals will present on some difficult cases they have faced relating to compliance, leadership and faculty, and how they were able to resolve the situation in part due to advice from their network and mentors. Audience members will share their own crummy stories and successes with each other in round tables, with the expectation that they can serve as resources for each other and help each other find solutions to pressing problems. At the conclusion of this activity, we expect that attendees will leave with an expanded contact list of other CE professionals to whom they can turn when faced with challenging or concerning situations in the future.

Accreditation with Commendation – How We Did It

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Accreditation with Commendation Decisions for 3 Clients – How We Did It

Three of Vivacity Consulting clients recently received Accreditation with Commendation from the ACCME and from MAG (the ACCME state-accreditor for Georgia). Although the clients are substantially different – one is a large specialty society, one is a medium specialty society, and one is a large Children’s hospital – the strategy that we followed was similar for all three.

1. Focus on the Required Areas of Compliance First

You cannot receive Commendation unless you achieve compliance with Criteria 1-13 and the ACCME’s policies. Most importantly these days, this includes the Standards for Commercial Support. (NOTE: If you have not already improved your COI system, do so now! It should be as close to perfect as possible for your most recent activities at the minimum.)

2. Discuss Commendation Criteria Everywhere

In all three instances, we translated the criteria into plain English and then showed them around the organization. In one case, we held formal conference calls with other Department heads to discuss ways in which the society might be meeting these expectations. In another, we talked about it informally with staff and Committee members. In both instances, the Education Departments learned about endeavors that could be useful both to the Commendation criteria but also as it related to the mission of the Department. The ACCME encourages collaboration with other organizations but it turns out, obtaining commendation can happen when you improve collaboration internally.

3. Look at the Compendium

This is a no-brainer, but really study the ACCME’s examples published here. In some instances, it might spark an idea that you didn’t already have. (It is also a great idea to review these examples regularly for the mandatory criteria as well.) Reviewing these examples leads to my next point …

4. Plan Early for Commendation

It’s never too early to plan for Commendation! If you notice that your organization does something that meets an element of compliance, add it to your ACCME Reaccreditation file.

But more importantly, assess areas in which your organization might be missing the mark and determine ways that you could potentially bolster your program. It’s amazing, but the ACCME developed the Commendation criteria for a reason. It turns out that, for example, implementing non-educational strategies to foster change after an educational activity (such as sending reminder emails or Tweets about the changes that were suggested) really does make your program better and your learners more likely to make that change.

Which, in the end, is the whole point of all of this!

[The ACCME is expected to release updated Commendation Criteria in 2015. Vivacity will update this blog post, if necessary, once they do so.]