AANS Joint Sponsorship Guidelines
GLOSSARY OF TERMS & ABBREVIATIONS
AANS: The acronym AANS refers to both the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, a 501 (c)(6)organization, and the American Association of Neurosurgeons, a 501(c)(3)
ACCME: Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
Accreditation & Designation Statement:
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of the AANS and (insert name of non-accredited provider). The AANS is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The AANS designates this live activity for a maximum of (TBD by AANS staff) AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Accredited Provider: An accredited provider is an institution or organization that has met the requirements for a CME provider as outlined by the ACCME. The AANS is the accredited provider for your AANS joint sponsored activity.
Activity: An educational event/intervention for physicians, which is based upon identified needs, has a purpose or objectives, and is evaluated to assure the needs are met.
Agreement for Educational Grant: See "Letter of Agreement" (LOA) below.
Commercial Bias: A personal judgment in favor of a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.
Commercial Interest: A commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients. The ACCME does not consider providers of clinical service directly to patients to be commercial interests. A commercial interest is not eligible for ACCME accreditation.
Commercial Support: Financial, or in-kind, contributions given by a commercial interest, which is used to pay all or part of the costs of a CME activity. The definition of roles and requirements when commercial support is received are outlined in the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support.
Competence: Competence is a standardized requirement for an individual to properly perform a specific job. It encompasses a combination of knowledge, skills and behavior utilized to improve performance.
Conflict of Interest (COI): When an individual’s interests are aligned with those of a commercial interest the interests of the individual are in "conflict" with the interests of the public. The ACCME considers financial relationships to create actual conflicts of interest in CME when individuals have both a financial relationship with a commercial interest and the opportunity to affect the content of CME about the products or services of that commercial interest. The potential for maintaining or increasing the value of the financial relationship with the commercial interest creates an incentive to influence the content of the CME – an incentive to insert commercial bias.
Continuing Medical Education (CME): Continuing medical education consists of educational activities which serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession. The content of CME is that body of knowledge and skills generally recognized and accepted by the profession as within the basic medical sciences, the discipline of clinical medicine, and the provision of health care to the public.
Credit: The “currency” assigned to CME activities. Requirements for the designation of credit are determined by the organization responsible for the credit system, e.g., AMA PRA (Category 1 and 2 Credit). Credit is based on 15 minute increments (.25 credit) of medical education.
Data Sources: Data sources indicate how you determine your professional practice gap. Examples of data sources: Expert opinion from faculty; measures required by government; national guidelines; specialty guidelines; hospital QI information; research findings; previous activity evaluations; etc. You must provide copies / documentation of your data sources with your application.
Financial Relationships: Financial relationships are those relationships in which the individual benefits by receiving a salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, consulting fee, honoraria, ownership interest (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interest, excluding diversified mutual funds), or other financial benefit. Financial benefits are usually associated with roles such as employment, management position, independent contractor (including contracted research), consulting, speaking and teaching, membership on advisory committees or review panels, board membership, and other activities from which remuneration is received or expected. ACCME considers relationships of the person involved in the CME activity to include financial relationships of a spouse or partner.
[Relevant] Financial Relationships: The ACCME defines “relevant financial relationships” as financial relationships in any amount occurring within the past 12 months that create a conflict of interest. ACCME focuses on financial relationships with commercial interests in the 12-month period proceeding the time that the individual is being asked to assume a role controlling content of the CME activity. ACCME has not set a minimal dollar amount for relationships to be significant. Inherent in any amount is the incentive to maintain or increase the value of the relationship.
Joint Sponsorship: Sponsorship of a CME activity by two institutions or organizations when only one of the institutions or organizations is accredited. The accredited provider must take responsibility for a CME activity when it is presented in cooperation with a non-accredited institution or organization and must use the appropriate accreditation statement. A commercial interest cannot take the role of non-accredited entity in a joint sponsorship relationship.
Letter of Agreement (LOA) or Educational Grant: The terms, conditions, and purposes of the
commercial support must be documented in a written agreement between the commercial supporter and the CME provider. Both the commercial supporter and the CME provider must date and sign the written agreement prior to the activity. The agreement must include the CME provider, even if the support is given directly to the provider’s joint sponsored organization. The written agreement must specify the commercial interest that is the source of commercial support.
Professional Practice Gap: The difference between actual and ideal performance and / or patient outcomes. When there is a difference between what the professional is doing or accomplishing compared to what is "achievable on the basis of current knowledge" there is a professional practice gap.
Scope of Practice: The range or breadth of a physician’s actions, procedures and processes.
Standards for Commercial Support: The ACCME’s standards to ensure independence in planning and implementing CME activities.