In order to ensure the highest quality education is offered by the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC), we must develop a standard set of expectations for our CME planners, directors/editors, peer reviewers, presenters/faculty and staff  These expectations will be communicated with the primary editor at the start of his/her term as well as throughout the process.

Planner Expectations (planners are generally a committee reviewer, director, editor, and staff):

  • Serve as key contributor to completing the Certification Request Form
  • Complete Disclosure and Attestation form
  • Adhere to ASNC COI resolution requirements for planners (recusal and attestation)
  • Resolve COI for Director/Editor (a committee reviewer role)
  • Adhere to all ACCME policies and procedures
  • Ensure activity is needs-based;  works with staff to develop and approve professional practice gap, and overall needs statement based on evidence based needs
  • Develop Overall Goal Statement  and course objectives
  •  Ensure that the activity format and method are appropriate for the course objectives, desired results, and target audience
  • Determine how to evaluate the CME  activity and how the goal(s) were met

Activity Director/Editor Expectations:

  • Agree to the expectations, policy statements, and timeline set forth by ASNC for course directors
  • Complete Disclosure and Attestation form
  • Adhere to all ACCME policies and procedures
  • Abide by all ASNC conflict of interest resolution mechanisms for your participation (recusal, attestation, peer review)
  • Ensure that all activity planning, implementation and evaluation is free from commercial bias
  • Provide content for the Certification Request Form
  • Develop the course agenda
  • Review and update standard timeline as needed in conjunction with ASNC staff
  • Select the course presenters
    • Presenters should not have unresolvable conflicts
  • Conduct   COI resolution for presenters (which includes peer review and attestation):  Review faculty disclosure and attestation forms. Resolve conflicts of interest (course directors are expected to adjust assignments or disqualify faculty based on conflicts)
  • Advance Peer Review of materials to ensure content validity[1] and no bias and document the process.  [Annual Meeting] designate a session moderator to provide onsite peer review of each session, which entails: listen for bias, interject to eliminate the perception of bias for learners, and document any resolutions taken; advance peer review high risk presenters
  • Attend planning conference call as needed
    • Set clear/firm expectations for the full course faculty
    • Review the course timeline
  • Monitor the progress of course material development
  • Contact faculty who have not completed their materials by the first deadline
  • Provide pre and post test questions when applicable and/or instruct presenters/authors to submit posttest questions and objectives
  • Provide evaluation on the process, and the course, and provide suggestions for improvement

Faculty/Author Expectations

  • Agree to the expectations, policy statements, and timeline set forth by ASNC and the course director for faculty
  • Agree to Presenter Release Form and Copyright Permission Policies
  • Complete Disclosure and Attestation form
  • Abide by all ASNC conflict of interest resolution mechanisms for your presentation
  • Attend the planning conference call as needed
    • Expectations for the course will be reiterated
    • Faculty assignments will be set/reviewed
    • Timeline will be reviewed
    • Next step will be set (deadlines for slides and questions) and agreed to
  • Provide education that is non biased, free of influence from commercial interests, balanced, and based on best available medical evidence.  Content must also be HIPPA compliant.
  • [Live] Develop a presentation of power point slides, which begins with disclosure to learners
  • Provide all relevant citations within the presentation or in a summary at the end of the presentation
  • Submit all questions and presentation materials by the assigned deadlines
  • Adjust materials as requested by the course director or peer reviewer
  • Attend the course and present materials
  • Provide an evaluation of the process and course including items for future improvement

Peer Reviewer

  • Complete disclosure and attestation form
  • Recuse from reviewing content related to products or services by any conflicts of interest
  • Review CME content for balance, independence, objectivity and scientific rigor.  Reviewer must ensure no bias and content validity.
  • Document the peer review process and determine if changes in content are needed.
  • Work with ASNC staff and content contributor to ensure required changes are implemented.

ASNC CME Staff Expectations
ASNC staff are expected to coordinate all non-educational and educational aspects of each educational program.  One or several staff may be assigned to each program.

  • Have working knowledge of accreditation requirements and ensure adherence to these requirements by all activity stakeholders, and throughout each phase of the activity planning process
  • Maintain a course binder tracking the progress of the course, including all relevant documents and decisions
  • Handle all logistics related to scheduling the facility, food /beverage, AV etc. associated with an on-site course
  • Develop a clear and complete timeline for all aspects of the program and modify as necessary in conjunction with the course director
  • Invite all planners and presenters on behalf of the course directors
  • Collect all disclosures and attestation forms for planners, presenters, reviewers and any other persons affecting content
  • Work with COI reviewer to ensure completion of the COI resolution process.  Communicate chosen COI resolution mechanisms to planners, presenters, reviewers, etc.  Document the process.
  • Provide disclosure and attestation information, and preliminary risk assessment to the course director or  committee reviewer with COI resolution guidelines.
  • Develop an agenda for planning conference call(s); schedule call with required participants and document minutes
  • Send reminders to the faculty as deadlines approach
  • Communicate with the course director as to the progress of the faculty in submitting disclosures, adhering to COI resolutions, and returning required materials
  • Collect all course materials, ensure they are HIPPA compliant, and submit to peer reviewer
  • Handle logistics, marketing, registration, evaluation process and issuing of CME/CE’s
  • Process travel reimbursement
  • Provide evaluation summary to planners and directors/editor
  • Provide suggestions for improvement for the next course (or all courses in general)
  • Document all ACCME and AMA requirements and provide a completed accreditation file within 90 days of the activity

[1] ACCME definition of CME Content Validation: a) 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; b) 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.