Frequently Asked Questions
Boston Children’s Hospital offers accreditation for the following credits: AMA PRA CATEGORY 1 CREDITTM: AMA PRA Category 1CreditTM represents that the physician has participated in an educational activity, and completed all requirements for such an activity, that is expected to “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” as stated in the AMA’s definition of CME. (Source: American Medical Association) NURSING CREDITS: PHARMACY CREDITS: SOCIAL WORK CREDITS: PSYCHOLOGY CREDITS: PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT NEEDS: OPTOMETRY CREDITS: CONTINUING DENTAL EDUCATION: MOC II POINTS: RISK MANAGEMENT CREDITS: PHARMACOLOGY CREDITS: We can assist with the application process, but do not hold accreditation for: This collaboration is between: Board of Certification (BOC) for Athletic Trainers Boston Children’s Hospital is approved by the Board of Certification, Inc. (BOC) to offer continuing education to Certified Athletic Trainers through compliance with the Standards for BOC Approved Providers. BOC Approved Providers are qualified to offer Level 1 Category A continuing education programs. American Dental Association Continuing Education Recognition Program Boston Children’s Hospital is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nore does it imply acceptance of credit hourse by boards of dentistry. Concerns or complaints about a CE provider may be directed to the provider or to the Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition at ADA.org/CERP. Boston Children’s is also accredited by: Here are some sample objectives: Joint AccreditationTM requires that all accredited continuing education providers design activities to change competence, and/or performance, and/or patient health. Providers must also measure the effectiveness of continuing education activities in fostering these changes. Continuing education activity directors are challenged, therefore, to develop objectives and content with the outcome of “change” in mind. Outcomes-based education starts from a simple premise: that the content should be defined by the desired outcomes. All elements of the planning process are therefore connected and held together by the overall purpose of the activity. Writing clear learning objectives is an important educational practice that helps connect educational needs with content. The course learning objectives are derived from the identified needs and specify, ideally in measurable terms, what learners should be able to do after participating in the activity. Objectives are concise, well-written statements that express desired outcomes. Clearly stated activity objectives act as guidelines to the development of content. Content may be sought or solicited based on what course planners feel will best achieve the stated objectives. In the same way, suggested content is held to the standard of the objectives and accepted or discarded based on its ability to meet the objectives. Completed applications must be submitted to continuingeducation@childrens.harvard.edu a minimum of 8 weeks prior to the intended activity date. Credit cannot be awarded retroactively. If you would like the CME Department to market your course, completed applications must be delivered to the CME Department no later than 4 months for local programs, 6 months for national programs and 12 months for international program prior to the start of the activity. These dates will help ensure we can market your program in a timely manner. All exhibitors must be placed in location that does not require attendees to pass through or interact with representatives if they do not wish to. This includes hallways to restrooms or educational spaces. Exhibitors may watch lectures but they are not allowed to promote or discuss their product while in the educational space. Exhibitors: 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. All exhibitor funds should be revenue for the course, and do not have any relation to commercial support received (ACCME). * *Rule for Both: Providers must ensure that their learners can participate in educational activities without seeing, reading or hearing promotional or marketing information from commercial interests. Further, accredited providers must ensure that the selling of advertising or exhibit space is a business transaction entirely separate from the acceptance of commercial support for accredited CME. (ACCME) More Information: http://www.accme.org/requirements/accreditation-requirements-cme-providers/standards-for-commercial-supportWhat type of courses and credits do you offer?
Types of Courses
Course Format
Description
Live Courses
an individual event where participants learn in person.
Enduring Materials (online only)
computer based continuing education activities that may be used over time or at the learner’s convenience.
Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS) (internal only)
a course that is planned as a series with multiple sessions, or occurs on an ongoing basis (ex. weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc).
Types of Credits
As a part of our Joint Accreditation status, we are approved to provide continuing education credits for Nurses from the American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) which can be used for re-licensure needs.
As a part of our Joint Accreditation status, we are approved to provide continuing education credits for Pharmacists from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) which can be used for re-licensure needs.
As a part of our Joint Accreditation status, we are approved to provide continuing education credits for Social Workers from the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) which can be used for re-licensure needs.
As a part of our Joint Accreditation status, we are approved to provide continuing education credits for Psychologists from the American Psychological Association (APA) which can be used for re-licensure needs.
As a part of our Joint Accreditation status, we are approved to provide continuing education credits for Physician Assistants from the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) which can be used for re-licensure needs.
As a part of our Joint Accreditation status, we are approved to provide continuing education credits for Optometrists from the American Optometric Association (AOA) Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry, Inc. Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE) which can be used for re-licensure needs.
Boston Children’s Hospital has been recognized by the American Dental Association’s Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP) as a provider of continuing dental education.
MOC II points are an additional credit type that physicians within the United States need to claim in order to maintain their specialty board license. The four boards that we currently approve for are American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), American Board of Anesthesia (ABA), American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), American Board of Pathology (ABPath), American Board of Opthamology (ABO), and the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (ABOHNS).
Risk Management credits are a credit type that physicians within the United States are required to get in order to meet their re-licensure needs. Risk Management must include instruction in medical malpractice prevention such as risk identification, patient safety, and loss prevention. In addition, it may include courses in medical ethics, quality assurance, medical-legal issues, patient relations, non-economic aspects of practice management, or courses designed to reduce the likelihood of medical malpractice through means other than increasing the licensee’s medical education and technical competence. Risk management study also includes a review of the Board’s Patient Care Assessment regulations (243 CMR 3.01-3.16) and participation on designated peer review committees dealing with quality assurance (Definition from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts).
Nurse Practitioners are required to have a certain number of credits associated with pharmacotherapeutics education for re-licensure. This education is self-claimed by the participant but we have assigned the number of credits that can be claimed if pharmacology is a relevant topic within the online course.
Who did Boston Children’s receive accreditation from?
How do I write learning objectives?
How long does the approval process take and what is the application deadline?
How do I request commercial support for my activity?
To begin requesting commercial support, please email us at continuingeducation@childrens.harvard.edu so that we can meet to discuss your needs.
Can we have exhibitors at our course?
Yes, you can have exhibitors at the educational activity. Please ensure that all signed exhibitor support forms are provided to the CME Department prior to the start of your activity.
What is the difference between commercial support and exhibitors?
What is a disclosure form? Do I need to fill it out?
A disclosure form is a document collected by the CME Department that asks all persons involved in an activity to disclose if they have any relevant financial relationships that could impact the content of the activity. Everyone that is involved in the course including, but not limited to: course directors, planning committee members, course coordinators, course administrators, speakers, and facilitators are required to fill out a disclosure form prior to the start of the activity.
What is CloudCME?
Do I need an account on CloudCME in order to register for an upcoming course?
How do I create a CloudCME account?
If you wish to create an account without registering for a course, select the yellow “Sign Up” button on the right hand side of the screen. Complete all required fields (in red) and select which type of credits you would like to claim and submit. You will be redirected to the CloudCME homepage and automatically logged in.
I forgot my password. How do I retrieve a new one?
On the main CloudCME page, click Sign In in the upper left hand corner. Then click “Forgot your password?” and enter in your email address.
I never created an account, but the system says my email is already taken. Why is this and what should I do?
How do I access my credits?
How do I evaluate a course I attended?
I am a faculty member that needs to submit a disclosure form. How do I do this?
How do I access the presentation slides of a course I attended/upcoming course I am registered for?
Is there a way to check if I have already registered for a course?
I am interested in attending a course you are known to put on annually/biannually, but it is not on your site.