Certifying Your Educational Activity for CME Credit

Thank you for your interest in working with the Congress of Neurological Surgeons to develop a continuing medical education (CME) activity. The CNS has made a commitment to work collaboratively with other organizations to advance the education of neurosurgeons and other neurosurgical professionals and to make it easier for neurosurgeons to find education that meets the same rigorous standards the CNS has in place for its own educational activities.

The CNS is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Accreditation in the ACCME System seeks to assure the medical community and the public that CNS delivers education that is relevant to clinicians’ needs, evidence-based, evaluated for its effectiveness, and independent of commercial influence.

How CME can help your Educational Activity: Certifying an educational activity for CME credit is a great way to enhance the value and legitimacy of your educational activity because it ensures that the activity meets the standards established by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) for educating physicians. The Congress of Neurological Surgeons certifies physician education activities for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM toward physician licensure with state medical boards. The CNS also issues certificates of attendance that count as CEUs for non-physicians.

CME Content Requirements

CME Content Overview: In accordance with AMA and ACCME policies, "CME consists of educational activities which 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. The content of CME is that body knowledge and skills generally recognized and accepted by the profession as within the basic medical sciences, the discipline of clinical medicine, and the provision of health care to the public."

Continuing Medical Education must:

1. Conform to the AMA/ACCME definition of CME.
2.  Address an educational need (knowledge, competence, or performance) that underlies the professional practice gaps of that activity’s learners.
3.  Communicate the identified educational purpose and/or objectives for the activity, and provide clear instructions on how to successfully complete the activity.
4. Present content appropriate in depth and scope for the intended physician learners.
5. Utilize one or more learning methodologies appropriate to the activity’s educational purpose and/or objectives.
6. Provide an assessment of the learner that measures achievement of the educational purpose and/or objective of the activity.
7. Be planned and implemented in accordance with the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education
8. Address problems in the current professional practice of your target audience.
• Educational: The content and presentation must promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.
• Evidence-Based: 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. 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. Providers are not eligible for ACCME accreditation or reaccreditation if they present activities that promote recommendations, treatment, or manners of practicing medicine that are not within the definition of CME or known to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients. An organization whose program of CME is devoted to advocacy of unscientific modalities of diagnosis or therapy is not eligible to apply for ACCME accreditation.
• Free from Promotion: The content and presentation must promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.
• Unbiased by Commercial Interests: The following aspects of your CME activity must be free from the control of a commercial interest: (a) identification of needs, (b) determination of educational objectives, (c) selection and presentation of content, (d) selection of all persons and organizations that will be in a position to control the content of the CME, (e) selection of the educational methods, and (f) evaluation of the activity.

Next steps for certifying your educational activity for CME credit:

1. Apply for CME credit for your educational activity.
2. You will receive a confirmation email within 2 business days. The key contact on your application may be contacted for additional information.
3. An individualized quote will be created and emailed to the contact provided on your application.

Please contact the CNS Education Accreditation team with questions.