Planning Non-Recurring Activities

We accept applications for new CME activities throughout the year. Please contact the CME Office at least six months prior to your activity date to begin the application process.

After you contact the CME Office, you will need to submit the following with your CME Activity Planning Application:

• Agenda
• Draft Budget
  
• Speaker/Planner Declaration Form completed by the Activity Director and any planning committee members.
  
• Signed copy of the ACCME Commercial Support Requirements

Please discuss your organization’s relationships with the CME office; disclosure may be required.

The budget must show honoraria and reimbursements that comply with UB policies.

If the activity director has financial relationships with companies relevant to your planned activity, the departmental CME committee—including at least two members without financial relationships—must assume responsibility for needs assessment, establishing objective(s), content development and speaker selection.

Pay careful attention to the second page of the planning document. You must design your curriculum and delivery to address the education gap of your learners with the intent of improving their competence, performance or patient outcome.

Learn more:

• Conferences: UB entities pay a fee of $150; non-UB entities pay a fee of $300.
• Enduring Materials: UB and non-UB entities pay a fee of $1000.
• Performance Improvement Activities: UB and non-UB entities pay a fee of $1000.
  

Our office will invoice you once your series is approved.

Complete one of the following forms depending on which CME activity you are planning:

Submit Disclosure Forms for each planner and speaker with your planning document.

Submit this signed form with your planning document.

Early in your planning process, your conference planning committee/departmental CME committee must:

• Review speakers’ relationships with companies as shown on their Speaker/Planner Declaration Form.
  
• Determine if their relationships may affect the content. If so, decide how to eliminate potential bias in the presentation.
• Complete the Faculty Disclosure Review Checklist for each speaker who has relationships with companies.
• For enduring materials only: review script and interview contents for scientific validity and possible bias.
  

If there is a potential for bias in any speaker’s presentation, you will need to address it. For example:

• Preview the content and assess the data on which recommendations are based.
• Advise the speaker to change the presentation's focus, scope or objective of the presentation—e.g., less emphasis on a particular therapy, procedure or drug and more discussion of the pros and cons of alternatives.
• Select a different speaker who is unbiased or one whose presentation a trusted UB faculty member heard at a national or significant professional meeting.
  

Complete this form if a speaker reports having received financial support from any commercial source within the past 12 months.

ACCME’s policies regarding disclosure in the Standards for Commercial Support:

Prepare notices, calendar postings or announcements (e.g., brochures, posters, ads, websites) that include:

• The program’s educational objective(s)
• Accreditation statement (provided by the CME Office)
  
• Credit statement (provided by the CME Office)
  
• Disclosure summary, including acknowledgement of commercial support (if applicable)

Send the CME Office all announcements for approval prior to printing and/or distributing electronically. Your publicity materials must include the information listed above to satisfy ACCME requirements. See the sample announcement to the right for an example.

When you post announcements to the school calendar, provide full details, including registration and contact information. Participants will need to register with you, not the CME office, to obtain credit.

Companies are considered supporters or grantors—not sponsors. Your activity’s sponsors include the education provider (e.g., your department) and the accredited provider (the CME office).

Submit to the CME Office all the speakers'

• Declaration Form
• Faculty Disclosure Review Checklist (Only for presenters that have listed a potential conflict of interest and must be completed by the program director or a planning committee member who has no commercial relationships to relevant companies in the past 12 months)

Credit will be withdrawn if these forms are not submitted at least four weeks before the program. This time frame will allow you to notify registrants that CME requirements were not met and credit will be unavailable.

Obtain from the speakers and planners of the CME activity.

Obtain from the speakers and planners of the CME activity.

Complete this form if a speaker reports having received financial support from any commercial source within the past 12 months.

These materials must be submitted to our office at least four weeks before the program.

Credit will be withdrawn if this deadline is not met.

Complete and submit a signed Letter of Agreement specifying the terms and conditions of support from each external source (companies, foundations, etc.). The Letter of Agreement must be signed by the:

• Company providing support
• Education provider (e.g., your department)
• Accredited provider (UB CME office)

Commercial supporters may not pay expenses directly. Grants from commercial supporters must be sent directly to the education provider (e.g., your department) or accredited provider (UB CME office).

The nature of enduring materials incurs several specific communication requirements:

This step is only required for planners organizing enduring materials activities. Those who are planning conferences and performance improvement activities can skip this step.

• Provide each registrant with a disclosure summary, Credit Claim Form and Evaluation Form provided by the CME Office.
• Collect completed Credit Claim Forms and evaluations from physicians who want CME credit.     
• Encourage participants to evaluate the program. Occasional reminders are effective.

Commercial exhibits (if any) must be located in a separate area outside the conference room.

This step is only required for planners organizing a conference. Those who are planning Enduring Materials and Performance Improvement Activities can skip this step.

The Credit Claim Form and Evaluation Form are sent to education providers once the CME office has received all the necessary paperwork.

After the conference has taken place (within 30 days), send the CME Office:

• A copy of the final program and announcement
• A set of handouts
• Credit Claim Forms from participants
• Summary of the evaluations
• Letters of Agreement for Unrestricted Education Grants
  
• Final Budget

Within 30 days after the start of the performance improvement activity, send the CME Office:

• A copy of the final program and announcement
• A set of handouts
• Credit Claim Forms from participants
• Evaluation Summary Report
  
• Fully Executed Letters of Agreement
• Final Budget Report

Within 30 days after the start of the performance improvement activity, send the CME Office:

• A copy of the final program and announcement
• A set of handouts
• Credit Claim Forms from participants
• Summary of the evaluations
• Fully Executed Letters of Agreement
• Final Budget Report

After the enduring material begins (within 30 days), send the CME Office:

• A copy of the final announcement
• A final copy of the product (e.g., CD-ROM, monograph, link to website)
• Final Budget Report

For the duration of the activity, send the CME office the following information at least quarterly:

• Names and demographics for all participants
• Evaluation results obtained from participants
• Post-test results for all participants (if applicable)
• Letters of Agreement

Once an enduring material is approved, it retains accreditation for three years. At the end of this period, you will need to review the content, ensure its currency, and update it if necessary to approve its credit-bearing status for another three years.

The Credit Claim Form and Evaluation Form are sent to education providers once the CME office has received all the necessary paperwork.