EUROPEAN ADVISORY COUNCIL CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION

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EUROPEAN ADVISORY COUNCIL CONTINUING MEDICAL
EDUCATION

• Daniela Marchetti
• Brussel
• November 26, 2005

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Role of EACCME

• EACCME (European Accreditation Continuing Medical
  Education) acts as an International CME
  clearinghouse whose role is to garantee an
  efficient, tranparent and uniform European CME
  accreditation for International events.

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EUROPEAN CME/CPD

• The most important aim of UEMS is that the
  accreditation of CME/CPD activities in the
  European countries is given with the appropriate
  credits to individual medical specialists
  throughout Europe. European Accreditation Council
  for CME, EACCME, is the appropriate structure
  capable of giving all European professionals
  International recognition of credits without
  interfering with the responsability and the
  politics of national institutions when they are
  present.

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Professionals and EACCME

• Health professionals have the right to be
  garanted in their need for education.
  Professional must be able to practice trough
  Europe and achieve credits for their CME
  activities. EACCME should fulfill their need, in
  particular when no National Authority is
  responsible or present for CME.

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Professional and EACCME

• The process of accreditation should be validated
  by an International organization super partes
  capable of equal and standardized rules to
  accreditate events.
• The major problem of EACCME is that the European
  accreditation is not recognized by some National
  Accreditation Authorities.

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The European situation at the end of 2005 Update
review of national situations

• In many European countries CME situation at
  National level is similar to the previous data
  presented in the past European Advisory Council
  Meeting in 2004. National accreditation of events
  is usually done by professional organizations,
  universities and scientific societies.

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The present situation of CME in European
Countries

• Reports from European countries expands and
  updates the work done for CME at National level.
  CME is mandatory in many countries the
  certificate given to professionals stands for a
  period of at least three years cicle. Points
  value ranges usually from a minimum of 120 points
  to a maximum of 150 credits in 3 / 5 years time.

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European countries organization examples

• Belgium CME and CPD is regulated by
  professionals, universities and State Insurance
  System. In case of impossibility to reach the
  amount of credits an Appeal Commission is
  responsible for achieving the new credits.
• Denmark Continuing Medical Education is regarded
  as a broad range of rules covering the different
  functions of a specialist doctor. The basis of
  National CME is on a volunteer basis the
  starting point is the identification of the
  doctors individual need in relation to broader
  needs of the reality in which he operates.
  Registration of CME activity is present in the
  Internet.
• Finland Based on a volunteer system, the
  Accreditation programme can utilize a 3-10 days
  sponsored educational activity. The government
  finances CPD with an allocation of 12 million
  euros for education. An average of 3/ 10 days
  time for educational activities is given to every
  professional,but FMA recommends that doctors
  spend 2 weeks each year in external CME/CPD
  activity). 20 of expences is paid by the
  government.

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European national organization

• Germany CME is mandatory in all lander with
  recognition from the Chamber of Physicians. There
  is mutual recognition of the credits by each
  regional Chamber. The Senate for Medical
  Association has issued guidelines for the
  accreditation of CME activities there are 8
  typical categories standing from lessons and
  lectures to workshops, interactive education
  (scientific print-media, CD etc) hospital
  activity and work as author and lecturer. CME is
  not financed, medical technical industry
  sponsorship is restricted to rules. There is a
  connection between the insurance and CME in many
  hospitals. In case of non performance of CME a
  percentage of insurance is cut off. There is a
  loss of license to practice in case of non
  performance of CME

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UEMS/ EACCMe and the European Accreditation
Boards

• Since the starting of EACCME in 2000, the
  accreditation work is done by UEMS specialist
  sections and by special boards composed of
  European scientific societies (ESAB European
  Specialty Accreditation Boards) and UEMS
  specialistic sections. Work has been increasing
  in these years most of the work of accreditation
  is usually slow and the responsability can be
  appointed, in the scientific society point of
  view, to the UEMS sections who do not perform
  their work in time. Thus the minimum time for the
  accreditation of an event can be posponed to
  longer extent.

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Comments on the ESAB paper

• According to most of the scientific societies the
  work done by the ESAB is always emphasized. The
  work of UEMS sections is slow and does not
  fullfill the required position. A flowchart has
  been done to shorten the entire process, the
  bypass of NAA is seeked.
• ESCMID, who is partner in CME for Microbiology,
  has a task force that provides CME accreditation
  toegether with UEMS delegates for Microbiology
  and Infectious Diseases. Fees stand from
• 100 euros event with 100
  partecipants
• 500 euros
  1000 partecipants
• 1500 euros gt1000
  partecipants

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The role of NAA

• National authorithies cannot be bypassed the
  position paper of ESAB is willing to make CME
  more reliable and short, disregarding the duties
  of the national situation. One must recall the
  central role of national accreditation
  authorities and join the majority of the
  professionals who are strongly against
  decentralization and against the national
  authority notification

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ESABS and UEMS

• The concern pointed out by Council attendants
  can be summarized as
• Legal point though there are some difficulties
  in accreditating,it is important that CME could
  be run by an organism who is superpartes
  (EACCME).
• Scientific Society point so far no event has
  been accreditated without the approval of EACCME
  through the joint commission UEMS officers/
  scientific societies officers. So far the role of
  EACCME has been correctly interpreted as
  impartial organism. In the future the role may
  diminish.
• The money point every international congress has
  to pay for accreditation and can deserve some
  amount of money which goes to the section.
• The National point national authorities have
  the right and responsability to be involved in
  the process, if the country, seeking for
  accreditation, has or does not have national
  accreditation. National authorities are
  responsible both for national accreditation and
  at national level for their national doctors. Dr
  Starke from UK said it is impossible to present
  the position paper of ESAB without the full
  responsability of national authorities involved
  in the process.

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ESAB and UEMS

• Dr Halila former President of UEMS urged
  attendees from UEMS sections to discuss about the
  issue during the meetings and in May to the
  general assembly of UEMS. He aggreed on the
  important role of ESAB but he reminded that, even
  if the process was not perfect with EACCME, it
  had improved a lot since the beginning and
  garanted an equal partecipation of UEMS sections
  and scientific boards. With regard to the money
  coming from UEMS activities, he informed about
  the decision of UEMS Council to share profits
  with the Specialistic sessions. UEMS/EACCME is
  the contact point for CME in Europe.

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New decisions taken at the Council

• The most important issue was to share the fees of
  accreditation with the specialistic sessions. No
  accreditation should be given, according to
  guidelines, to symposia sponsored by industry as
  done in the USA.
• Need for clear rules on this matter was seeked by
  the audience.(Dr Stark- UK, dr Pissiotis- Greece)

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EACCME current position on accreditation

• Majority of applications are submitted
  elettronically.
• There are formal aggreements with national
  accreditation authorities for formal recognition
  of credits.
• Formal aggreements have been signed with some
  UEMS sections to garantee the accreditation
  process.
• Fees, at present, are not high in order to push
  on the request for accreditation.
• There is a formal certificate of the
  accreditation given to the event.
• There is a clear need for partecipants to feed
  back on the real assessment of the event
  accredited.

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Any other business

• Next meeting for CME will be held in Brussels
  next November 2006. New statues and rules in UEMS
  were adopted. France ruled again A definition of
  Medical act was carried. A new executive was
  elected. A collaboration with Guidelines
  international network was aggreed.