2016-2017 Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS) Program Administrative Guide
Thank you for your participation in the Harvard Medical School’s (HMS) RSS Program. HMS is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians. HMS Global and Continuing Education (GCE) is responsible for ensuring that CME activities are in compliance with ACCME Criteria and policies and other national CME regulations and standards.
Definition of a Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS)
An RSS is defined as a course that is planned as a series with multiple, ongoing sessions (e.g. offered weekly, monthly, or quarterly) and is primarily planned by and presented to the accredited organization’s professional staff. Examples include grand rounds, tumor boards, and morbidity and mortality conferences. All RSS activities are expected to be planned, implemented, and evaluated in compliance with the ACCME Criteria and policies and HMS GCE policies and procedures. PLEASE NOTE: Annual events hosted by hospital departments that are longer than two hours are generally not considered an RSS. These activities require submission of a separate activity proposal, adherence to additional certification requirements, and may have corresponding fees for certification.
Changes in Program Content
Your RSS activity is approved based on the activity proposal. Please notify HMS GCE in advance if you intend to change the educational content of an approved RSS. Please contact us for review and approval three to four months in advance of any anticipated changes. The RSS team can be reached at .
Activities Not Eligible for Certification through HMS GCE
· Please note that if an approved RSS does not meet all compliance standards during the check-in period(s), certain RSS sessions may not be eligible for AMA PRA Category Credit™.
· At this time, HMS may only certify live portions of the course. Sessions that are simultaneously broadcasted to off-site or remote locations for group viewing may be certified for CME credit; however, sessions streamed to individual viewers (example: through Adobe Acrobat or WebEx) and those recorded to be viewed on demand cannot be certified for CME through HMS GCE. Please contact our office for the live streaming policy.
Live Streaming
Sessions that are simultaneously broadcasted (live streaming) to off-site or remote locations may be certified for CME credit as part of your existing approval. However, there are additional requirements that need to be in place for the live stream activity to be approved. Please contact our office for the live streaming policy.
Disclosure and Conflict of Interest Resolution
An updated copy of the “Disclosure and Resolution of Financial Relationships for CME Activities” form is attached. This form combines both the disclosure and conflict of interest resolution into one document. Please be sure that you are using this version of the document moving forward.
All speakers/presenters/moderators for your activity should complete this form prior to their first talk. The form covers the signee for 12 months, provided there are no changes in financial relationships. If a speaker reports a relevant financial relationship, a non-conflicted course director or physician appointed by the course director should complete the “Resolution of Conflict of Interest” section prior to the talk. PLEASE NOTE: Conflicts of Interest for Course Directors or Course Planners in their role as course director/planner will be resolved by the HMS GCE office using a peer-review method. If a Course Director or Course Planner will also be speaking during the activity, COI resolution will need to be completed by a designated non-conflicted Course Director or Planner prior to their talk.
Commercial Support
As previously announced, Harvard Medical School will no longer certify for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM Regularly Scheduled Series that receive commercial support.
Recruiting Planners and/or Faculty Who Are Industry Employees
Under certain circumstances, certified CME activities may be developed that include presentation of discovery, research, or knowledge by an industry employee. Please contact us at prior to an invitation being extended. HMS GCE must review the content of all slide presentations prepared by industry employees prior to the CME activity.
(Please note that employees of a commercial interest and/or a spouse/partner of an employee of a commercial interest may not serve as faculty or planners for a CME certified activity if the content of the CME activity relates to the business lines and products of his/her employer. All presentations of an employee/spouse/partner of an employee of a commercial interest must be reviewed by a non-conflicted course director before the session date.)
RSS Evaluation
RSS Staff, using SurveyMonkey, will create evaluations for all RSS activities. Links will be sent to course administrators/directors in the fall, and will encompass the series as a whole. The course administrator/director should distribute the link via e-mail to all attendees of their activity. Evaluation links will be active until the end of April. The results will be collected by RSS Staff and shared with the course directors in May to assist in planning for the next academic year.
Record Keeping
As a reminder, all accredited providers are required to maintain records for six years from the date of the last session for each activity. Course directors are responsible for ensuring that these records are maintained in a way that is easily and quickly accessible. Scanned digital copies are acceptable.
Request for Your Assistance with Accreditation Requirements
We are respectfully requesting your vigilance in providing us with the appropriate documentation for all CME activities especially surrounding the disclosure and the identification and resolution of conflicts of interest processes on a timely basis. We have made impressive progress over the past three years in compliance awareness and want to continue to move forward with this effort. Please note that AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ is awarded for this activity contingent upon your submission of completed documentation required for compliance with the ACCME, AMA, and HMS standards and regulations. If you have any questions about disclosure and conflict of interest resolution or any other RSS matters, please feel free to contact us at .
Accreditation Fee: HMS GCE Accreditation Fee for Regularly Scheduled Series activities is $1,500. This fee is for the academic year (not for individual sessions). An invoice will be emailed to the person listed as the course administrator on the proposal. Please contact our office if you have questions.
RSS Program Requirements and Check-ins
Please review this document and contact us if you have any questions. All forms must be submitted electronically via our website during the check-ins. https://cme-rss.hms.harvard.edu/
Check-In Periods for Monitoring Process
HMS has developed a review and audit process that is designed to monitor each RSS for compliance with the ACCME Criteria and policies. Each course director and administrator is required to submit documentation for the January and June check-ins.
The documents listed below are required to be completed and submitted to HMS GCE as part of the check-in process. Please make sure to use the forms for all sessions that occur between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017. You may download these documents by clicking on the links below or by visiting our website at https://cme-rss.hms.harvard.edu/node/300.All forms must be submitted electronically via our website during the check-ins.
Documents
· HMS RSS Schedule For each session, list the topic (or case description for case-based activities), date, number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ , number of risk management credits (if applicable) as well as the speakers, planners, course directors, and anyone in a position to influence the content of the activity.
· HMS RSS Summary of Attendance: This form should include the name, degree, e-mail address, and number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ claimed by each attendee during the check-in period. Participants’ CME certificates will be based on the data from this spreadsheet, so please make sure that all of the information is correct. Certificates will be e-mailed to attendees as PDFs once per year, once after the June check-in (covering sessions held between July 1 and June 30).
o Attendees, including physicians and non-physicians, are required to sign-in at each session of an RSS. Sign-in records should include the complete name, degrees, e-mail address, and number of credits claimed for each attendee. If you do not have a sign-in process already in place, you may use the sign-in sheet template. Course directors and administrators are required to maintain attendance records for the RSS for at least six years. CME certificates are generated for attendees based on the attendance information that is submitted to the HMS GCE. CME certificates are awarded to physicians only. Certificates of attendance are awarded to non-physician participants.
· Disclosure and Resolution of Financial Relationships for CME Activities (attached): – All speakers/presenters/moderators (including residents, fellows, medical students and non-practicing physicians) are required to complete disclosure forms prior to the start of the session in which they are participating. All signed disclosure forms are valid for 12 months, provided there are no changes in financial relationships. If relevant financial relationships are reported, a non-conflicted course director or physician appointed by the course director should complete the “Resolution of Conflict of Interest” section prior to the talk.
· RSS Announcement (attached): A copy of the RSS Announcement for your activity is attached. Please note that this is a required form. See attached Announcement Instructions. If you are sending out any e-mail announcements/reminders regarding your course, this form should be included as an attachment. A copy should also be placed at the sign-in table prior to each session. The form has been pre-filled to include your RSS # and title, learning objectives and target audience. Prior to each session you should add the presenter name(s), disclosure information, title of presentation or topic, date, location and time, and learning objectives for that session to the form. HMS GCE will collect copies of this form during the January and June Check-ins.
Please note that we will collect announcement forms from all sessions where the speaker lists financial relationships.