Sorry about the bad pun -- I couldn't resist. Anyway, the Accreditation Council for CME sent its latest e-newsletter today, including an announcement that its Program & Activity Reporting System, or PARS, is scheduled to open for an four-week exhibition/education phase in April. From the e-newsletter:
- PARS is a Web-based portal designed to streamline and support the collection of program and activity data from continuing medical education providers. The purpose of the exhibition/education phase is to afford accredited providers, if they choose to do so, the hands-on opportunity to try out the system before it is made available for actual data collection. Accredited providers can view instructional materials about how PARS works, enter test data (which will be deleted before the system goes live), ask questions and provide feedback.
The exhibition/education phase is optional. We will send all accredited providers an e-mail alert with instructions for receiving a login ID and password as soon as the phase is open. Instructions will also be posted on the PARS Information Page. Please note that PARS is open only to ACCME-accredited providers.
The exhibition/education phase follows two pilot phases, during which groups of accredited providers volunteered to test the system. Based on their input, and feedback from other stakeholders, the ACCME made improvements to PARS, to ensure that it will be an efficient and valuable resource for the accredited CME system. After the exhibition/education phase, the ACCME will make any necessary additional adjustments before launching PARS.
The report also said that results from its recent calls-for-comment, which closed March 8, on ACCME's Complaints and Inquiries Process, Knowledge-Based CME Activities, and ACCME’s Recognition Process, are being reviewed and analyzed. The ACCME will post the comments to its Web site before the next board of directors meeting, scheduled for July 15-16, when the board will discuss them.
And for those who are confused about how to implement the ACCME's independence policies, check out this update and case examples. And here's more about the ACCME's process for implementing its redefinition of commercial interest, including a case example of a compliant corporate structure, as well as a description of noncompliant structures.
If you don't already get these reports, I highly recommend subscribing to them. Kudos to ACCME for keeping us all informed on what it's been up to lately.
