CME Planning Guide - CME Course Director Roles and Responsibilities

Summary of Roles and Responsibilities of the CME Course Director

Thank you for your interest in serving as a Course Director for a Baptist Health CME Conference, Series, or Symposium. The Baptist Health CME team, the CME Committee, and the rest of the medical staff sincerely value your dedication.

Baptist Health CME oversees and provides leadership, support, and guidance in developing CME activities designed to improve physician competence and/or performance to improve patient care and outcomes, as described in the CME Mission Statement. Team CME manages activity planning, design, faculty communication, commercial support and exhibitors, financial disclosure and mitigation process, clinical content review, compliance with HIPAA, PHI and copyright, social media marketing, digital marketing, digital signage and meeting logistics. A CME Manager facilitates the intricate process of complying with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's (ACCME) Criteria and the Standards for Integrity and Independence.

Expand each section below to review the practical responsibilities of the CME Course Director. After reviewing each section, please submit the attestation.

A) Planning, Development and Speaker Selection

Definition of accredited-CME: As defined by the AMA, CME is an educational activity that serves "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."

Define the gap: The conference director's role is to define the professional practice gap the accredited-CME activity will be designed to address. Professional practice gaps fall within three areas within accredited-CME, knowledge, competence, and/or performance in practice. A professional practice gap is the difference between best practices and the current practices observed in clinical scenarios by any group within Baptist Health. These gaps are substantiated by scientific literature, national guidelines, state or federal regulations, maintenance of certification (MOC) requirements, and/or quality improvement data. Evidence-based references are provided in support of the practice gap and/or the desired outcomes. We encourage you to use Baptist Health dashboard data and metrics as baseline data and plan to compare follow-up dashboard data post-activity within your assessment of the outcomes of your CME activity.

The educational learning objectives describe actionable strategies that the participants will be better able to implement to achieve the desired outcome(s) of the CME activity. Learning objectives are articulated in terms of improvements in physician competence, performance, and/or patient outcomes.
Qualified faculty are selected based on topic expertise and presentation skills.
- Consider political, marketing, and budget implications before extending a speaker invitation. Please review the information on stipends and compensation in Section G.
- Refrain from inviting employees/owners of ineligible companies due to their inherent conflicts of interest.

The Physician Course Director will:

Identify areas where CME will improve physician competence, performance, and/or patient outcomes.
Create a draft course and propose this course to the Medical Director of the Baptist Health CME Department.
Once the Medical Director approves the project, the Course Director will identify a speaker for the activity.
The Course Director will contact the potential speaker to discuss the "expected objectives" of the conference or symposium. It is usually during this personal discussion between the Course Director and the speaker that the final objectives of the talk are determined based on the goal or purpose of the CME activity and the target audience. While the Course Director may have their expected objectives in mind, it is usually the productive conversation with the speaker that is the source of the final objectives – based on the experience and expectations of the Course Director and the speaker, as well as the intended target audience.
Written communication is expected from the Course Director after they discuss the CME activity with the speaker. The Course Director provides this written record of the final objectives to the CME Manager as part of the required planning documentation.
Once the Course Director and the chosen speaker agree upon the objectives and the speaker has confirmed participation, the Course Director will share the speaker's contact information with the CME Manager.
The CME Manager will not discuss or become involved in conversations with the speaker regarding the objectives of their lecture(s).

The CME Manager and the CME Department will take on most of the planning responsibilities from this point on, including formal speaker invitations, legal documentation, and disclosures. Planning responsibilities may include but are not limited to transportation and lodging arrangements for the speaker, site selection/reservation for the course, catering, promotion, and registration.

The CME Manager will contact the Course Director as needed to complete the different steps required to organize a CME event, referring primarily to the expected timeline.

B) Timeline

CONFERENCE planning should be completed 3 months prior to the CME event.

This means that:

The speaker has been selected and confirmed.
All required CME Speaker forms received.
1. Disclosures have been reviewed and mitigated, as needed.
Activity practice gaps and desired goals have been identified.
The objectives of the conference finalized.
The schedule of the CME activity is finalized.
If this course is being transferred to the Baptist Health Online Learning Program, obtaining multiple-choice questions from the speaker in order to provide CME credits.
The Course Director will complete a clinical content review of the speakers' PowerPoint or PDF at least 1 week prior to the conference in order to make certain that they are in compliance with the ACCME Standards of Integrity and Independence.
Go to item 8 below for specific guidance on reviewing PowerPoint Presentations.

SYMPOSIUM planning should be completed at least 8 months prior to the event.

This means that:

The speakers and moderators have been selected and confirmed.
All required CME Speaker forms received.
1. Disclosures have been reviewed and mitigated, as needed.
Activity practice gaps and desired goals have been identified.
The objectives for each presentation are finalized.
The draft schedule of the symposium is completed with all speakers, titles of their talk, breaks, and Q&A and/or Round Table discussions.
Schedule guest faculty for at least two lectures (average 45 minutes each) to optimize your expenses.
A recommended format is to group topics that are somewhat related into sessions of several lectures.
If lectures will be transferred to the Baptist Health Online Learning Program, obtaining multiple-choice questions from the speaker in order to provide CME credits.
The symposium timeline of 8 months prior to the event allows time to complete the Grant Process to obtain funding that will offset symposium expenses. The Baptist Health Foundation takes responsibility for soliciting funds on behalf of the CME Department. Companies who participate and support Continuing Medical Education require that a complete symposium application be submitted with the Grant application, and they require a lot of lead-time in order to access funds from their budget.
The Course Director will complete a clinical content review of the speakers' PowerPoint or PDF at least 2 weeks prior to the conference in order to make certain that they are in compliance with the ACCME Standards of Integrity and Independence.
The CME Manager will review these presentations as well. Any potential issues will be brought to the Medical Director, Assistant Vice President, and/or Corporate Director for resolution. These presentations should be available at least three months before the CME symposium and 3 weeks before the CME Conference. (Drafts are acceptable).
PowerPoint Presentations must be unbiased. They cannot favor any specific company, brand or product line.
- Use of commercial or brand name products should be avoided.
- Use of the generic name is preferable.
- At times if several products are used for the same therapy it would be acceptable to use the brand name along with the generic name for a better understanding by the audience.
- Logos and company names are not permitted.
Reference: ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence
The main compliance issues we have experienced are related to Conflict of Interest, HIPAA and copyright violations. The CME Managers are very familiar with these issues. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the CME Department Medical Director or Corporate Director to give the approval or impose a change when questionable material or content is found in a presentation.
The CME Manager will bring to the attention of the Course Director should she finds any issues within the presentation. It is the responsibility of the Course Director to request the necessary corrections to the presentation from the speaker.
The Course Director should personally advertise and promote his/her CME symposium targeting the contacts they have developed through years in practice. This includes conversations with possible speakers for future symposiums during professional traveling.

NOTE: It is at the discretion of the CME Medical Director and Assistant Vice President to authorize a shorter timeline due to the occasional unusual circumstances or needs of Baptist Health.

C) Reaching the Intended Audience

The Conference Director will be engaged in maximizing conference attendance through personal efforts including the following.

Promotion – in person and via e-mail communication – to physicians in the target audience.
Work with the CME Manager to determine a plan to promote a conference to specific committees, departments, etc.

Symposiums

In addition to above points:

Leverage connections throughout the country to promote through colleagues, association memberships, alumni groups, LinkedIn, etc.
Provide CME Managers with recommended advertising options on websites or in publications where physicians in your specialty learn about upcoming CME Symposiums.
Find out if your association membership entitles you to privileges such as access to mailing lists or discounted advertising rates.

D) Disclosures and the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence

Baptist Health's CME program operates within the framework of the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence to insure balance, independence, objectivity and scientific rigor in all CME activities.

CME planning and development decisions are made free of the control or influence of commercial support.
Speaker and/or topic recommendations from ineligible companies (aka: Industry) or their representatives, either nuanced or direct, is prohibited.
Course Directors adhere to and support the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence throughout the CME planning and implementation process.

Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships:

Anyone engaged in content development, planning, review, moderating, authoring or presentation has the opportunity to affect CME content. All such individuals are obligated to disclose all financial relationships in any amount that he/she had in the prior 24-month period with commercial interests.
Directors' and Planners' conflicts of interest (COI) must be disclosed, mitigated and resolved prior to the start of planning the activity.
If a conflict of interest exists, the CME Manager will work with the individual to mitigate the COI; when needed the Course Director and/or CME Medical Director will provide support.
If a conflict of interest cannot be resolved, the individual must be disqualified from participation or CME credit may not be awarded for this presentation.
In the case of a Planning Group or Planning Committee, if any member, including the Course Director, has a conflict of interest relevant to the subject matter of the activity or a particular part of the symposium, at least one planning committee member must be non-conflicted and a content expert. The conflicted planner must recuse him/herself from discussions related to that subject matter.

ACCME Definitions

Ineligible Companies (aka: 'Industry'): Companies that are ineligible to be accredited in the ACCME System (ineligible companies) are those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

Owners and employees of ineligible companies: The owners and employees of ineligible companies are considered to have unresolvable financial relationships and must be excluded from participating as planners or faculty, and must not be allowed to influence or control any aspect of the planning, delivery, or evaluation of accredited continuing education, except in the limited circumstances outlined in Standard 3.2. Owners and employees are individuals who have a legal duty to act in the company's best interests. Owners are defined as individuals who have an ownership interest in a company, except for stockholders of publicly traded companies, or holders of shares through a pension or mutual fund. Employees are defined as individuals hired to work for another person or business (the employer) for compensation and who are subject to the employer's direction as to the details of how to perform the job.

Conflict of Interest (COI): 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.

Resolution of COI: Having an interest or affiliation with a commercial interest does not necessarily prevent you from participating in the planning of the proposed CME activity. However, BHSF-CME procedures for resolving conflicts of interest may require limiting the role and input of any person judged to have a conflict.

Reference: ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence – Eligibility

E) During the Conference/Symposium

Attend conference, acting as "host" to the speaker(s) and attendees.

Greet speaker(s).
Make opening remarks to the audience (announcements will be provided).
Introduce speaker(s) – CME Manager will provide speaker(s) CV or Bio for reference.
If moderating a symposium, a speaker timer may be provided to keep to the schedule.

F) After the Conference/Symposium

Review and assess Evaluation Summary with the CME Manager – and the CME Medical Director after symposiums.
Begin plans for the next year's symposium.

G) Stipends and Compensation

Eligibility to receive payment from the CME Department is based on existing contractual agreements between Baptist Health South Florida and the individual Baptist Health-affiliated physician.

Per existing policies on payments to CME Course Directors and Speakers who are members of a medical staff affiliated with Baptist Health:

Eligible speakers will receive a stipend of $500 per CME credit hour.
- Speakers who provide 40-60 minutes of lecture content will be paid $500.
- Speakers who provide 20-35 minutes of lecture content will be paid $250.
Eligible Conference Directors will receive a stipend of $400 per CME credit hour of the course they direct.
- If a Course Director is also a Speaker in a course they direct, they will receive a CME Speaker stipend rather than a Course Director stipend for that portion of the time they served as a speaker. The CME Speaker stipend payment is based on the lecture length described above.

Stipend payments to the Course Director are contingent upon carrying out all of the obligations described in this document.

Guest faculty stipends must be discussed and agreed upon in advance with the CME Manager prior to faculty invitation.

H) Corporate and Department Administrative Policies & Procedures

As a corporate department of Baptist Health, the CME department adheres to all system policies and procedures. Of particular importance are those related to the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and Physician Contract Management, a division of the Finance Department.

The OGC provides oversight of payments to physicians. An approved contractual executed agreement with a physician is required prior to payment. These include but are not limited to the payments to speakers, conference directors and consultants, and may consist of honorariums, stipends, fees and expense reimbursements.
The Baptist Health Continuing Medical Education Department and CME Program follow the Baptist Health Corporate Financial Services Policies with regard to Provision of Gifts and Other Things of Value to Physicians (Policy 229). This policy addresses the anti-kickback and Stark laws.
Baptist Health Policy 340.02, Terms for Acceptance of Income from Commercial Interests to Fund Continuing Medical Education (CME), guides procedures for solicitation or acceptance of grants from commercial interests to support CME activities. Baptist Health Foundation oversees grant requests.
Baptist Health Policy 340.01, Financial Support for Non-Baptist Health CME, delineates that Baptist Health will provide financial support only for CME activities for which Baptist Health through its Department of Continuing Medical Education is the CME sponsor/provider.
Baptist Health prohibits employees of commercial interests from participating in accredited continuing medical education. When the content will be about products (medications, devices, equipment, supplies, services, etc.,) that in any way relate to the commercial interest company for which he/she is employed this puts the Baptist Health, the accredited provider, at high risk for non-compliance with the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence. The hallmark of accredited continuing medical education is the separation – or exclusion – of promotional messages, activities and influence.

I attest that I have read and understand the roles, responsibilities, and terms of compensation (if eligible) of a CME Course Director. I agree to accept and carry out these responsibilities in the timeframe provided.

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CME Planning Guide - CME Course Director Roles and Responsibilities

Summary of Roles and Responsibilities of the CME Course Director