MMS Accreditation Requirements supplement the MMS Essential
Areas and Elements.
Click here to download the PDF (14 pages, 91
kb)Activity
Announcements
Annual Reporting
CME Content
Commercial Support and
Disclosure
Enduring Materials
Fees
Internet CME
Joint Sponsorship
Journal-based CME
Monitoring Continuous
Compliance
Organizational or
Personnel Changes
Records Retention
Activity Announcements
Designation & Accreditation
Statements
Activity announcements describe all promotional materials
(including brochures) in both print and electronic formats that are
designed to build awareness of the activity among the target
physician audience. Activity announcements should outline the
activity's educational content. Any announcement, if it
references the maximum number of credits for which the provider has
designated the activity is required to include the complete
designation and accreditation statements.
The designation and accreditation statements do not need to be
included on initial, save-the-date type activity announcements.
Such announcements contain only general, preliminary information
about the activity like the date, location, and title. If more
specific information is included, such as faculty and objectives,
the accreditation statement must be included.
Designation Statement
"AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™" is a trademark of the
American Medical Association. Accredited providers are
required to use "AMA PRA Category 1 Credit ™" whenever the
complete phrase is first used in any publication, and periodically
through the publication. This standard language along with
the Designation statement, benefits both providers and physicians
by clearly communicating the provider's privilege to award AMA PRA
Category 1 Credit on behalf of the AMA.
Providers may never publish or announce that "AMA PRA credit has
been applied for."
Accreditation Statement
The accreditation statement identifies the MMS accredited
organization responsible for demonstrating the CME activity's
compliance with all MMS Essential Areas and Elements (including the
ACCME Standards for Commercial Support SM) and
Accreditation Requirements. The accreditation statement must appear
on all CME activity materials and brochures distributed by
accredited organizations.
There is no "co-sponsorship" accreditation statement. If two or
more accredited providers are working in collaboration on a CME
activity, one provider must take responsibility for the compliance
of that activity. Co-sponsored CME activities should use the
directly sponsored activity statement, naming the one accredited
provider that is responsible for the activity. MMS has no policy
regarding specific ways in which providers may acknowledge the
involvement of other MMS accredited providers in their CME
activities.
Designation/Accreditation Credit Statement for MMS
Accredited Providers
The following designation/accreditation statements must be
included on all promotional materials advertising AMA PRA Category
1 Credit™ CME activities.
(REQUIRED - AMA CREDIT DESIGNATION
STATEMENT)
The (Name of Accredited Provider) designates this [learning format] for a maximum of [number of credits] AMA PRA Category 1
Credit (s) ™. Physicians should claim only credit
commensurate with the extent of their participation in the
activity.
Note: the AMA PRA reference must be in italics and must
include the trademark symbol.
(REQUIRED - ACCREDITATION STATEMENT)
The (Name of the Accredited Provider) is accredited by the
Massachusetts Medical Society to provide continuing medical
education for physicians.
(And, When Appropriate - For Risk Management
Study)
This activity meets the criteria of the Massachusetts Board of
Registration in Medicine for risk management study. OR
(number of credits) meet the criteria of the Massachusetts Board of
Registration in Medicine's criteria for risk management study.
(And, When Appropriate - For Joint Sponsorship)
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with
the Essential Areas and policies of the Massachusetts Medical
Society for Continuing Medical Education through the Joint
Sponsorship of the (Name of the Accredited Provider) and (Name of
Non-accredited Provider).
The learning format listed in the Credit Designation
Statement must be one of the following AMA approved learning
formats:
- Live activity
- Enduring material
- Journal-based CME activity
- Test-item writing activity
- Manuscript review activity
- PI CME activity
- Internet point-of-care activity
Annual
Reporting
MMS accredited providers are required to submit an Annual Report
to the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
(ACCME) in order to maintain their accreditation status. The
purpose of the Annual Report is to confirm contact information for
the accredited provider, and to compile an aggregate of the size
and scope of the CME enterprise in the United States, e.g., the
number and type of activities planned and executed, the number of
hours offered, the number of physician learners taught, the amount
of commercial support received, and the total income and expense of
the enterprise. Accumulated data received from all ACCME and state
medical society accredited providers is published annually at www.accme.org as a service to
accredited providers, other members of the CME community, and the
public.
Providers complete the report online via ACCME's secure provider
extranet. Providers that do not complete the report by the
published due date are subject to a change of their accreditation
status to probation. Providers that do not complete the
report prior to the following meeting of the ACCME's board of
directors may be subject to a decision of non-accreditation.
CME Content
MMS's definition of CME describes what content is acceptable for
activities that are certified for credit:
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.
A broad definition of CME, such as the one found above,
recognizes that many continuing educational activities which assist
physicians in carrying out their professional responsibilities more
effectively and efficiently are CME. A course in management would
be appropriate CME for physicians responsible for managing a health
care facility; a course in educational methodology would be
appropriate CME for physicians teaching in a medical school; a
course in practice management would be appropriate CME for
practitioners interested in providing better service to
patients. CME that discusses issues related to coding
and reimbursement in a medical practice falls within MMS's
definition of CME.
Not all continuing educational activities which physicians may
engage in however are CME. Physicians may participate in worthwhile
continuing educational activities which are not related directly to
their professional work and these activities are not CME.
Continuing educational activities which respond to a physician's
non-professional educational need or interest, such as personal
financial planning or appreciation of literature or music, are not
CME.
All CME educational activities developed and presented by a
provider accredited by the MMS and associated with AMA PRA Category
1 CreditTM must be developed and presented in compliance with all
MMS accreditation requirements -- in addition to all the
requirements of the AMA PRA program. All activities so
designated for, or awarded, credit will be subject to review by the
MMS accreditation process as verification of fulfillment of the MMS
accreditation requirements.
Providers are not eligible for MMS accreditation or
re-accreditation if they present activities that promote
recommendations, treatment or manners of practicing medicine that
are not within the definition of CME, or known to have risks or
dangers that outweigh the benefits or known to be ineffective in
the treatment of patients. An organization whose program of CME is
devoted to advocacy of unscientific modalities of diagnosis or
therapy is not eligible to apply for MMS accreditation.
Content Validation
Accredited providers are responsible for validating the clinical
content of CME activities that they provide. Specifically,
1. All the recommendations involving clinical medicine in a CME
activity must be based on evidence that is accepted within the
profession of medicine as adequate justification for their
indications and contraindications in the care of patients.
2. All scientific research referred to, reported or used in CME in
support or justification of a patient care recommendation must
conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design,
data collection and analysis.
Commercial
Support and Disclosure
These policies and definitions supplement the 2004
updated ACCME Standards for Commercial Support: Standards
to Ensure the Independence of CME Activities
("SCS"). The MMS adopted the ACCME Standards for
Commercial SupportSM in May 2005.
Relevant to SCS1 (Ensuring Independence in Planning CME
Activities):
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 or MMS
accreditation. Within the context of this definition and
limitation, the ACCME considers the following types of
organizations to be eligible for accreditation and free to control
the content of CME:
501c non-profit organizations (Note: ACCME screens
501c organizations for eligibility. Those that advocate for
'commercial interests' as a 501c organization are not eligible for
accreditation in the ACCME system. They cannot serve in the
role of joint sponsor, but they can be a commercial
supporter.)
Government organizations
Non-health care related companies
Liability insurance providers
Health insurance providers
Group medical practices
For-profit hospitals
For profit rehabilitation centers
For-profit nursing homes
Blood banks
Diagnostic laboratories
ACCME reserves the right to modify this definition and this list
of eligible organizations from time to time without notice.
ACCME's Definition of a Commercial Interest as It
Relates to Joint Sponsorship
In August 2007, the ACCME modified its definition of a "commercial
interest." As has been the case since 2004, commercial
interests cannot be accredited providers and cannot be "joint
sponsors."
In joint sponsorship, either the accredited provider or its
non-accredited joint sponsor can have control of identification of
CME needs, determination of educational objectives, selection and
presentation of content, selection of all persons and organizations
that will be in a position to control the content of the CME,
selection of educational methods, and evaluation of the activity.
To maintain CME as independent from commercial interests, control
of identification of CME needs, determination of educational
objectives, selection and presentation of content, selection of all
persons and organizations that will be in a position to control the
content of the CME, selection of educational methods, and
evaluation of the activity cannot be determined or influenced by a
commercial interest.
Relevant to SCS2 (Identifying and Resolving Conflicts of
Interest):
Financial Relationships: Financial relationships occur
when an 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.
With respect to personal financial relationships, 'contracted
research' includes research funding where the institution gets the
grant and manages the funds and the person is the principal or
named investigator on the grant.
Conflict of Interest: Circumstances create a conflict
of interest when an individual has an opportunity to affect CME
content about products or services of a commercial interest with
which he/she has a financial relationship.
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 ACCME considers "content
of CME about the products or services of that commercial interest"
to include content about specific agents/devices, but not
necessarily about the class of agents/devices, and not necessarily
content about the whole disease class in which those agents/devises
are used.
With respect to financial relationships with commercial
interests, when a person divests themselves of a relationship it is
immediately not relevant to conflicts of interest but it must be
disclosed to the learners for 12 months.
Relevant to SCS3 (Appropriate Use of Commercial
Support)
Commercial Support is financial, or in-kind, contributions
given by a commercial interest (see Policies relevant to SCS1),
which is used to pay all or part of the costs of a CME
activity.
An accredited provider can fulfill the expectations of SCS
3.4-3.6 by adopting a previously executed agreement between an
accredited provider and a commercial supporter and indicating in
writing their acceptance of the terms and conditions specified and
the amount of commercial support they will receive.
A provider will be found in Noncompliance with SCS 1.1 and SCS
3.2 if the provider enters into a commercial support agreement
where the commercial supporter specifies the manner in which the
provider will fulfill the requirements of the ACCME's Elements,
Policies and Standards.
Element 3.12 of the ACCME's Updated Standards for Commercial
Support applies only to physicians whose official residence is in
the United States.
Relevant to SCS4 (Appropriate Management of Commercial
Promotion)
Commercial exhibits and advertisements are promotional activities
and not continuing medical education. Therefore, monies paid by
commercial interests to providers for these promotional activities
are not considered to be 'commercial support'. However, accredited
providers are expected to fulfill the requirements of SCS 4 and to
use sound fiscal and business practices with respect to promotional
activities.
Relevant to SCS6 (Disclosure to Learners)
Disclosure of information about provider and faculty relationships
may be divulged verbally to participants at a CME activity. When
such information is disclosed verbally at a CME activity, providers
must be able to supply ACCME with written verification that
appropriate verbal disclosure occurred at the activity. With
respect to this written verification:
A representative of the provider who was in attendance at the
time of the verbal disclosure must attest, in writing:
The documentation that verifies that adequate verbal
disclosure did occur must be completed within one month of the
activity.
The provider's acknowledgment of commercial support as required
by SCS 6.3 and 6.4 may state the name, mission, and areas of
clinical involvement of the company or institution and may include
corporate logos and slogans, if they are not product promotional in
nature.
Enduring
Materials
An enduring material is a non-live CME activity that "endures"
over time. It is most typically a videotape, monograph, CD ROM,
and/or DVD. Enduring materials can also be delivered via the
Internet. The learning experience by the physician can take place
at any time in any place, rather than only at one time, and one
place, like a live CME activity.
Enduring materials must comply with all MMS Essential Areas and
Elements (including the ACCME Standards for Commercial SupportSM
, MMS Accreditation Requirements and AMA requirements for
educational activities eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
However, there are specific communication requirements for enduring
materials because of the nature of the activities. Because there is
no direct interaction between the provider and/or faculty and the
learner, the provider must communicate the following information to
participants so that they are aware of this information prior to
starting the educational activity:
Principal faculty and their credentials;
Medium or combination of media used;
Method of physician participation in the learning
process;
Estimated time to complete the educational activity (same as
number of designated credit hours);
Dates of original release and most recent review or update;
and
Termination date (date after which enduring material is no
longer certified for credit).
For CME activities including those in which the learner
participates electronically (e.g., via Internet, CD-ROM, satellite
broadcasts), all required information must be transmitted to the
learner prior to the learner beginning the CME activity (also see
ACCME's policies regarding disclosure in the Standards for
Commercial Support). All CME activities released or
re-released after January 1, 2008 must conform to this
policy.
Providers that produce enduring materials must review each
enduring material at least once every three years or more
frequently if indicated by new scientific developments. So, while
providers can review and re-release an enduring material every
three years (or more frequently), the enduring material cannot be
certified for credit for more than three years without some review
on the part of the provider to ensure that the content is still
up-to-date and accurate. That review date must be included on the
enduring material, along with the original release date and a
termination date.
Accredited providers may not enlist the assistance of commercial
interests to provide or distribute enduring materials to
learners.
MMS records retention policies require participants to verify
learner participation and evaluate all CME activities.
Sometimes providers will create an enduring material from a live
CME activity. When this occurs, MMS considers the provider to have
created two separate activities - one live activity and one
enduring material activity. Both activities must comply with all
MMS requirements, and the enduring material activity must comply
additionally with all MMS requirements that relate specifically to
enduring materials.
In addition to the requirements above, the American Medical
Association (AMA) requires the following for an enduring material
to be certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
- Meet all AMA core requirements for certifying an activity.
- Provide clear instructions to the learner on how to
successfully complete the activity.
- Provide an assessment of the learner that measures achievement
of the educational purpose and/or objective (s) of the activity
with an established minimum performance level; examples include,
but are not limited to, patient-management case studies, a
post-test, and/or application of new concepts in response to
simulated problems.
- Communicate to the participants the minimum performance level
that must be demonstrated in the assessment to successfully
complete the activity for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
- Provide access to appropriate bibliographic sources for further
study.
Designating and awarding credit for participation in an enduring
material:
- Credit designation for each enduring material must be
determined by a mechanism developed by the accredited CME provider
to establish a good faith estimate of the amount of time a
physician will take to complete the activity to achieve its purpose
and/or learning objectives (e.g. the average time it takes a small
sample group of the target audience to complete the
material); credit is designated in 15 minutes or .25 credit
increments; accredited CME providers must round to the nearest
quarter hour.
- Credit should be awarded only to physicians who meet at least
the minimum performance level on the assessment as established by
the accredited CME provider.
Fees
MMS accredited providers are accountable for timely submission
of fees that are required either to attain or maintain
accreditation. MMS's Accreditation Fee Schedule lists current
fees.
Internet CME
Live or enduring material activities that are provided via the
Internet are considered to be "Internet CME." Internet CME must
comply with all MMS Essential Areas and Elements including the
ACCME Standards for Commercial SupportSM and Accreditation
Requirements. However, there are specific requirements for Internet
CME due to the nature of the activities:
Activity Location: MMS accredited providers may
not place their CME activities on a website owned or controlled by
a 'commercial interest.'
Links to Product Websites: With clear
notification that the learner is leaving the educational website,
links from the website of an MMS accredited provider to
pharmaceutical and device manufacturers' product websites are
permitted before or after the educational content of a CME
activity, but shall not be embedded in the educational content of a
CME activity.
Transmission of information: For CME activities
in which the learner participates electronically (e.g., via
Internet, CD-ROM, satellite broadcasts), all required information
must be transmitted to the learner prior to the learner beginning
the CME activity. All CME activities released or re-released after
January 1, 2008 must conform to this requirements
Advertising: Advertising of any type is
prohibited within the educational content of CME activities on the
Internet including, but not limited to, banner ads, subliminal ads,
and pop-up window ads. For computer based CME activities,
advertisements and promotional materials may not be visible on the
screen at the same time as the CME content and not interleafed
between computer 'windows' or screens of the CME content.
Hardware/Software Requirements: The accredited
provider must indicate, at the start of each Internet CME activity,
the hardware and software required for the learner to
participate.
Provider Contact Information: The accredited
provider must have a mechanism in place for the learner to be able
to contact the provider if there are questions about the Internet
CME activity.
Policy on Privacy and Confidentiality: The
accredited provider must have, adhere to, and inform the learner
about its policy on privacy and confidentiality that relates to the
CME activities it provides on the Internet.
Copyright: The accredited provider must be able
to document that it owns the copyright for, or has received
permissions for use of, or is otherwise permitted to use
copyrighted materials within a CME activity on the Internet.
Joint
Sponsorship
MMS accredited providers that plan and present one or more
activities with non-MMS accredited providers are engaging in "joint
sponsorship."
The MMS expects all CME activities to be in compliance
with the Essential Areas and Elements including the ACCME Standards
for Commercial Support SM and Accreditation
Requirements. In cases of joint sponsorship, it is the
responsibility of the MMS accredited provider to be able to
demonstrate compliance through written documentation. Materials
submitted to demonstrate compliance may be from either the MMS
accredited provider's files or those of the non-accredited
provider. It is recommended that the MMS accredited provider
and joint sponsor sign a Letter of Agreement outlining the
responsibilities of each organization for the development and
implementation of the CME activity.
Note that if a jointly sponsored activity is found to be in
Non-Compliance with MMS's content validation requirements or
requirements for disclosure and commercial support, the accredited
provider in the relationship may be asked to provide one or more
Monitoring Progress Reports related to the issue.
The accredited provider must inform the learner of the joint
sponsorship relationship through the use of the appropriate
accreditation statement. All printed materials for jointly
sponsored activities must carry the appropriate accreditation
statement.
If a provider is placed on probation, it may not jointly sponsor
CME activities with non-accredited providers, with the exception of
those activities that were contracted prior to the probation
decision. A provider that is placed on probation must inform the
MMS of all existing joint sponsorship relationships, and must
notify its current contracted joint sponsors of its probationary
status.
The MMS maintains no policy that requires or precludes
accredited providers from charging a joint sponsorship fee.
ACCME's Definition of a Commercial Interest as It
Relates to Joint Sponsorship
In August 2007, the ACCME modified its definition of a "commercial
interest." As has been the case since 2004, commercial
interests cannot be accredited providers and cannot be "joint
sponsors."
In joint sponsorship, either the accredited provider or its
non-accredited joint sponsor can have control of identification of
CME needs, determination of educational objectives, selection and
presentation of content, selection of all persons and organizations
that will be in a position to control the content of the CME,
selection of educational methods, and evaluation of the activity.
To maintain CME as independent from commercial interests, control
of identification of CME needs, determination of educational
objectives, selection and presentation of content, selection of all
persons and organizations that will be in a position to control the
content of the CME, selection of educational methods, and
evaluation of the activity cannot be determined or influenced by a
commercial interest.
If an accredited provider has questions related to its own
corporate structure or that of a joint sponsor in the context of
the definition of commercial interest, please contact the MMS at dmuir@mms.org.
Journal-based CME
A Journal-based CME activity describes a process by which
accredited providers identify an article, within a peer-reviewed,
professional journal, that serves as a planned learning
activity. The process involves a stipulated/learner directed
phase (that may include reflection, discussion, or debate about the
material contained in the article(s)) and a requirement for the
completion by the learner of a pre-determined set of questions or
tasks relating to the content of the material as part of the
learning process. This is usually done through the publisher
of the journal, in which an article or series of articles are
available for credit.
The MMS considers the following to be elements of a Journal-based
CME activity.
Information to be communicated before a CME activity (e.g.,
disclosure information, disclosure of commercial support,
objectives),
CME content (e.g., articles, lectures, handouts, and slide
copies),
Content-specific post-tests, and
Education evaluation.
The educational content of journal CME must be within the MMS's
Definition of CME.
Journal-based CME activities must comply with all MMS Essential
Areas and Elements including the ACCME Standards for Commercial
Support SM and Accreditation Requirements. There are two
additional requirements that Journal-based CME must meet:
The MMS does not consider a Journal-based CME activity to have
been completed until the learner documents participation in that
activity to the provider.
None of the elements of journal-based CME can contain any
advertising or product group messages of 'commercial
interests'. Disclosure information cannot contain trade
names. The learner should not encounter advertising within
the pages of the article or within the pages of the related
questions or evaluation materials.
Monitoring Continuous
Compliance
MMS Monitoring
Because of MMS's responsibility to the CME community and
to the public for ensuring that providers meet MMS standards for
quality continuing medical education, MMS may on occasion require
providers to submit evidence of continuous compliance with
the Accreditation Requirements prior to the normally scheduled
review for re-accreditation. MMS would most likely request such
evidence if information were brought to MMS's attention, either
through a complaint or inquiry, or via other means, that questioned
the accredited provider's ongoing compliance with the Accreditation
Requirements.
If, through either the complaint/inquiry process or the
re-accreditation process, MMS finds a provider's jointly-sponsored
activities to be non-compliant with content validation requirements
or the requirements for disclosure and commercial support, MMS may
begin a formal process to continuously monitor the provider's
ongoing compliance with the relevant accreditation requirements.
This process could include verification of compliance through one
or more Monitoring Progress Reports.
Additionally, when a non-accredited organization is associated
with more than one MMS monitoring decision of Non-Compliance
related to either content validity or disclosure and commercial
support, MMS will notify its accredited providers of the name of
the non-accredited organization. Accredited providers that enter
into a joint sponsorship relationship or have jointly-sponsored
activities with the non-accredited organization will be required to
demonstrate compliance of those activities via a Monitoring
Progress Report.
Self Monitoring
Most MMS accredited providers are evaluated for re-accreditation
every four or six years. Once you have achieved accreditation, MMS
expects that during your accreditation term, your organization will
take an active role in ensuring that it is continuously meeting the
expectations of MMS in its purview of CME.
Following are specific actions that you can do to assist your
organization in keeping informed about the Accreditation
Requirements:
Organizational or
Personnel Changes
Contact Information
To keep providers aware of important policy updates as well as
information specific to their individual accreditation, MMS
requires accredited providers to promptly inform MMS of any
personnel or organizational changes. These types of changes include
changes of address or phone number or email address, and changes to
the individual to whom providers would like MMS to send
correspondence ("primary contact").
Changes may be submitted to dmuir@mms.org.
Corporate Change
If an MMS accredited provider undergoes a corporate change, (i.e.,
from a merger or acquisition), the MMS must be notified of the
change as soon as possible.
Note: MMS accreditation is awarded to organizations
that demonstrate compliance with Accreditation Requirements. For
this reason, an organization cannot become an accredited provider
by purchasing or merging with an organization that is already
accredited. Transference of accreditation is not permitted
without prior MMS approval.
Similarly, if an accredited provider undergoes
significant organizational change, for example, becoming
partially owned by a commercial interest or losing its 501(c) IRS
tax status, the MMS considers the provider to be significantly
different than the organization which was accredited. Therefore,
the MMS will expect the provider to cease offering AMA PRA
Category 1 Credit™ as an MMS accredited provider. The MMS will
set a date of non-accreditation for these providers.
The MMS will withdraw a provider's accreditation if the provider
is dissolved, or ceases to exist, as a result of a merger,
acquisition or dissolution.
When two or more MMS accredited providers merge, the MMS will
consider that all but one of the accredited providers will cease to
exist as an entity. The name of the remaining provider may be
changed to reflect or include the name(s) of the former
provider(s). The remaining provider must assume responsibility for
unfinished CME activities and/or unexpired enduring materials of
the provider(s) with which it merged, and must maintain activity
registration records for six years for the provider(s) with which
it merged.
New providers created through corporate change must submit a
Pre-application and/or Self Study Report per the direction of MMS
as a first step towards initial MMS accreditation.
Records
Retention
Specific CME activity records must be maintained by all
accredited providers. Records retention requirements relate to the
following two topics: Physician Participation and Activity
Documentation.
Physician Participation: An accredited
provider must have mechanisms in place to record and, when
authorized by the participating physician, verify participation for
six years from the date of the CME activity. The accredited
provider is free to choose whatever registration method works best
for their organization and learners. The MMS does not require
sign-in sheets.
Activity Documentation: An accredited
provider is required to retain activity files/records of CME
activity planning and presentation during the current accreditation
term or for the last twelve months, whichever is longer.
Maintenance of this documentation enables the provider to, at the
time of re-accreditation, show MMS how the activities it provided
during its current term of accreditation were compliant with all
MMS Essential Areas and Elements including the Standards for
Commercial Support SM and Accreditation
Requirements.
Additionally, if MMS receives a complaint about an accredited
provider, and the complaint relates to the provider's
implementation of one or more MMS Essential Areas or Elements or
Accreditation Requirements, MMS may ask the provider to respond to
the complaint according to MMS's Procedure for Handling
Complaints/Inquiries. The length of time during which an accredited
provider must be accountable for any complaints/inquiries received
by the MMS is limited to twelve months from the date of the
activity, or in the case of a Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS),
twelve months from the date of the activity which is in
question.
