ACAPP Standards for Accreditation of Activities Submitted by CPD Providers

Submitted CPD activities must fulfill all ACAPP standards to gain accreditation. Each of the below standards is paired with a number of required criteria that have to be met in order for the standard to be fulfilled.

1. Educational Standards
1.1 Target Audience

The provider should clearly define the target audience that can benefit from the CPD activity

Criteria:

• The target audience should fall within the remit of fully qualified medical professionals.
• The CPD activity should be appropriate to the educational level and expertise of the target audience.

1.2 Learning Outcomes

All CPD activities should have clearly formulated intended learning outcomes.

Criteria:

• Learning outcomes should be based on clear learning needs assessment of target audience.
• They should accurately reflect realistic expectations from the CPD activity without over-or under-estimating what participants will truly achieve upon attending the activity.
• They should be relevant to the CPD activity and should be expected to occur immediately upon completing the activity.
• They must be formulated according to best educational practices:
  • The outcomes should be divided into knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors (when applicable)
  • They should describe what the participant will know and be able to do upon completion of the training events.
  • Each learning outcome should start with an action verb that explicitly defines the level of knowledge or skills attainment after completion of the training. Blooms taxonomy of knowledge and intellectual skills acquisition levels could be used as a guide

1.3 CPD Program Structure and Delivery

The provider should demonstrate that the CPD activity promotes the principles of adult learning and the indicative contents are appropriate in depth, scope, language, and pace for the target audience.

Teaching and learning methods should align with the educational purpose and intended outcomes.

Types of CPD activities that could be submitted for accreditation by providers are:

• Workshops, lectures, conferences, seminars and symposia (either face to face or through virtual conferencing)
• Online learning courses
• Practical training sessions

Criteria:

• A detailed statement describing the content of the CPD activity, sequence of events and teaching and learning methods used must be submitted.
• The indicative content should be up to date and rely on best practices and evidence-based medicine.
• The CPD provider must submit a list of contents for various lectures, seminars or workshops that will be withheld within the CPD activity. Each lecture, seminar, or workshop must be titled fully and associated with the following information:
  • The duration in hours
  • Date and time of each activity within the educational activity (when applicable)
  • The relationship between various lecture, seminar, or workshops and if any is a pre-requisite before attending other contents in the activity
  • The teaching and learning methods (for example interactive presentation, debate, question and answer sessions should be clarified with each area of content)

We encourage providers to use the ACAPP-CPD activity template 

1.4 Speakers/Instructors’ Competency and Expertise

CPD providers should ensure that the CPD activity is designed, conducted or authored (in case of online activities) by qualified and experienced staff.

Criteria:

• The speakers/instructors’ profiles should demonstrate relevant qualifications, high level of competence and experience pertinent to the educational objectives and the modality used for delivering the CPD activity.

1.5 Evaluation of the CPD Activity

The CPD activity should have a valid feasible approach for its evaluation.

Criteria:

• The provider should submit, a detailed description of the CPD activity evaluation process employed by the CPD provider of organizer
•  A feedback form that seeks participants’ opinion about the activity should be submitted. Press here to download ACAPP evaluation forms.
• The feedback form should include five points or more scale to measure participants’ opinion on the scientific content of the activity, their relevance to professional practice, mode of delivery, teaching and learning methods, achievement of learning outcomes, the competence of instructors, the quality of associated educational materials, the venue, the teaching support services, and their overall satisfaction about the activity.
• Providers are encouraged to use electronic methods to survey and automatically analyze the results of feedback from participants.
• Results and analysis of feedback should be included in the event report submitted to ACAPP after the end of the CPD activity.

 

2. Governance and Operational Standards

2.1 CPD Provider

The CPD provider should be a legally recognized entity and with sufficient relevant expertise to conduct the activity.

Criteria:

• ACAPP should receive detailed information about the provider including the structure, organization, affiliation and statutory condition of the providing organization.
• The provider must submit personal and professional data for the CPD activity program director and all participating instructors.
• A proof of disclosure of potential conflict of interest should be made clear in the submitted documents for accreditation of the CPD activity (ACAPP Declaration Form)

2.2 Duration of Accreditation

ACAPP accreditation for any CPD activity has a specific predefined validity.

Criteria

• Certificate of accreditation will be valid for 3 years. This is not applicable for scientific conferences. A certification code will be printed on all certificates. This will include the duration of certification.
• Following certification expiry, re-certification will require re-evaluation by ACAPP.
• Re-certification will be issued provided less than 25% of content is changed.
• If content is changed by more than 25%, re-accreditation will be required.
• Re-certification will entail administrative fees only.
• Re-accreditation will entail full-process fees.

Detailed information on the application and reviewing process is available here .

2.3 Administrative Arrangements

CPD providers should have efficient administrative measures that allows for a fair and transparent CPD accreditation process by ACAPP.

Criteria:

• Applying for CPD accreditation: the provider is expected to apply for ACAPP accreditation (including submission of required documents and payment of accreditation fees) at least three months before the CPD activity is commenced. In case of failure to do so, the application will be automatically disqualified for accreditation by ACAPP executive committee.
• Attendance: the provider must have authentic proofs and valid process for monitoring attendance of the CPD activities so that CPD points are granted only for professionals who have attended the educational activities.

The following are approaches for authentic proof of attendance that are endorsed by ACAPP:

• Participants attendance of event with manual signature of attendance
• Electronic registration sheets by the activity organizer

 

• Record keeping: robust processes should be in place to ensure effective record keeping of the performed educational activities, attendance register and delegates evaluation forms. Attendance registers and evaluation forms should be provided upon request.
• Final event report: the provider must submit a final event report that includes number of attendees, any changes in the submitted educational events, analysis of attendees’ feedback and evaluation of the CPD activity

2.4 Legislative and Policy Compliance

Providers should comply with any current regulatory and legislative guidelines pertinent to medical practice.

Criteria:

• Providers should demonstrate strict adherence to codes of ethics and professional conduct in medical practice during planning or conducting the CPD activity.
• All applicable relevant local, national or international guidelines should be strictly followed
• Clinical content should follow all appropriate ethical considerations including patient consent, data governance, protection of privacy, confidentiality and copyright policies.

2.5 Commercial Interest

The CPD activity should be devoid of any conflict of interests or commercial bias.

Criteria:

• CPD providers might receive financial support for their CPD activities from third parties or commercial organizations. This financial support must be standardized, documented and declared by the provider and added to the CPD activity accreditation submission.
• Any commercial support must not compromise the quality or accuracy of information provided in the CPD activities. There must be no bias towards any product or specific line of management.
• Providers must acknowledge any received educational grants in their submitted/printed programs.
• Providers should make every effort to adhere to evidence-based medicine, best practices and their related resources when they plan for CPD activities.
• Pharmaceutical Industry presentations shall not be recognized or claimed for CPD credits and CPD providers must clarify these presentations and associated timing in their submitted programs.

Some examples of relationships that should be disclosed are listed below: (However, the list of conflict of interest is not limited to them)

• Any direct financial interest of the CPD provider or the academic faculty in a commercial entity such as a pharmaceutical organization or medical devices company.
• Investments held in the CPD providing organization by an entity like pharmaceutical company
• The academic faculty’s or provider’s membership on the sponsoring organization’s advisory board or similar committee.
• Current or recent participation in a clinical trial sponsored by the CPD activity sponsors.
• Holding a patent for a product referred to in the CPD activity that is marketed by a commercial organization.

Requirement for accreditation of CPD Activities Submitted by Healthcare Professionals

 

Any HCP can individually apply for accreditation of CPD activity provided that the following requirements are submitted:

• Personal and professional data for the HCP requesting the CPD points including his/her curriculum vitae. Original documents should be provided upon request.
• Certified copy of the certificate (and transcripts) of courses/activities to be accredited.
• Certified copy of the course specifications of the activity to be accredited
• A proof of disclosure of potential conflict of interest if any is present.

Types of CPD activities that could be submitted for accreditation by HCPs are:

• Teaching activity for undergraduate or postgraduate students
• Scientific publication in peer-reviewed journals
• Writing a chapter in a book or writing and publishing a review article
• Participation in research project