Taking Control of Your Documents: Practical Tips for Managing CME Documentation

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Taking Control of Your DocumentsPractical Tips
for Managing CME Documentation
Yvette Brooks Education Program Coordinator The
Endocrine Society Chevy Chase, MD

• Abbe Lynch, MA
• Faculty CME Planner
• University of Virginia
• Charlottesville, VA

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Objectives

• Understand the steps required to organize from
  the inside out
• Develop a method of document management that
• Works for you
• Is easily integrated into your organizations
  filing system

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The CME office paper, paper, everywhere!

• Educational planning
• Application approval
• Literature
• Notes from meetings
• Correspondence
• CVs
• Forms
• Disclosures
• Intellectual property
• A/V request forms

• Publicity
• Financial and legal
• Invoices
• POs
• Contracts
• LOAs
• Meeting materials
• Syllabus
• Evaluations
• Sign-in sheets
• Versions of educational content

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Whats the Problem?

• Your office manager asks for notes on an
  educational program that you should have returned
  a week ago. You promise to come up with it - as
  soon as you plow through the mountain of papers
  and folders on your desk and the surrounding
  floor.
• Famous quote by some CME Professionals
• I know where everything is. My desk may be a
  mess but I know where everything is.

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Have you ever felt like a single piece of candy
in the center of a piñata?
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Challenges with document organization

• What are yours?
• What is your definition of organization?
• When you think of organizing, how does it make
  you feel?

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Outside in vs. Inside out

• Outside IN
• Looking at the trees
• One way
• Borrowed system
• Forces you to change

• Inside OUT
• Looking at the forest
• Many ways
• Personal system
• Reflects YOU

Morgenstern J. Organizing from the Inside Out.
New York Henry Holt and Company, 1998.
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System Examples

• Label System used for accreditation (prior to
  11/2006)
• Electronic filing still need system for finding
  documentation
• Programs
• Expense
• UVA CME

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4-Step Process

• Analyze
• Strategize
• Attack
• Evaluate

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Analyze

• Goals
• Essential items to do your job
• Current state
• What works and why
• What doesnt work and why

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Strategize the Inside Out Way

• Kindergarten Model
• Activity zones
• One activity at a time
• Point of use storage
• Everything has a home
• From visual of room, you know where to go to do
  what you want or need to do

Morgenstern J. Organizing from the Inside Out.
New York Henry Holt and Company, 1998.
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How to Do It?

• Define zones
• Activity
• Supplies needed
• Storage unit available (or to purchase)
• Map out space
• Rearrange furniture
• Make time for it!

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Attack

• Sort based on what make sense to you
• Purge - appropriately
• Assign a home
• Containerize
• Equalize (monitor maintain)

Morgenstern J. Organizing from the Inside Out.
New York Henry Holt and Company, 1998.
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Evaluate

• Were your goals met?
• Does it feel easy?
• Does anything need to be changed?

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Does this Approach Sound Familiar?

• Inside out process
• Analyze
• Strategize
• Attack
• Equalize

• CME Process
• Assess need
• Plan and design
• Implement activity
• Evaluate

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Applying Inside Out to CME Documentation
Management

• Analyze
• Goals Increase efficiency, decrease stress
• Essential items
• Day to day program planning
• Compliance with ACCME Essentials and Standards
• Current state
• Chaos, dont feel like anything is working!
• Central filing categories an issue for me

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Applying Inside Out to CME Documentation
Management

• Strategize
• Followed Kindergarten Model
• Communication areas
• Work area
• Reading area
• Work in progress files
• Files to prepare for central filing system

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Applying Inside Out to CME Documentation
Management

• Attack (a work in progress) my learnings
• SPACE
• Sort intuitively when possible
• Use categories that speak to you
• Color code

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UVA CME Office Categories

• Designed to facilitate easy retrieval during
  reaccreditation process
• Summary
• Educational planning
• Faculty
• Financial
• Commercial support
• Syllabus
• Publications

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My Take During Planning/Implementation

• Summary
• Educational planning
• Faculty
• Financial
• Commercial support
• Syllabus
• Publications

• Summary
• Educational Planning
• Logistical Planning
• Publicity
• Faculty
• Travel
• Forms - AV
• Financial
• Commercial support
• Syllabus
• Disclosure
• Front matter
• Materials provided by speaker(s)
• Publications

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• CME PROGRAM ORGANIZATION
• PROGRAM PLANNING - Essential Area 2 Educational
  Planning Evaluation
• TAB 1 - Element 2.1 Evidence that a planning
  process used that links identified educational
  needs and desired results
• ___ Proposal
• ___ Correspondence on program development
• ___ Committee minutes/reports
• ___ Annual CME Activity Report
• ___ Needs Assessment Survey Report
• TAB 2 - Element 2.2 Evidence that
  demonstrates needs assessment was used to plan
  CME activities.
• ___ Checklists
• ___ Planning committee minutes
• ___ Database of needs ideas/surveys
• ___ Expert opinion
• ___ Needs Assessment Survey Report
• TAB 3 - Element 2.3 The provider must
  communicate the purpose or objectives of the
  activity so the learner is informed before
  participating in the activity
• ___ Brochure/flyer
• ___ Program book/syllabus
• ___ Ads for program/handout
• ___ Newsletter ___ web site
  ___ Fax broadcast

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• TAB 4 - Element 2.4 - The provider must evaluate
  the effectiveness of its CME activities in
  meeting identified educational needs.
• ___ Evaluation form
• ___ Evaluation results
• ___ Program Director evaluation form
• ___ CME Reviewer evaluation results
• ___ Follow-up survey form
• ___ Follow-up survey results
• FINANCIAL/SUPPORTER - Essential Area 3
  Administration
• TAB 5 - Element 3.3 -The provider must present
  CME activities in compliance with ACCMEs
  policies for disclosure and commercial support.
• ___ Written Policy on Commercial Support
• ___ Letter of Agreement
• ___ Budget and Invoices
• ___ Program handout, materials
• TAB 6 SPEAKERS
• __ Disclosure Form
• __ Speaker presentation
• TAB 7 - PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
• TAB 8 SPEAKER PROGRAM DIRECTOR
• ___ Contact information and correspondence

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Organize Your Time

• Most of us could benefit from having more
  minutes in an hour or hours in a day.
• Become a Time Tamer
• Where does the time go?
• What do you do?
• What are your priorities?
• How can you tame time?

Peripheral time is time that is wasted while we
attempt to complete other important tasks at work.
Sova, Dawn B Getting Organized at Work Eliminate
Clutter and Whip Your Office into Shape (Learning
Express 1998)
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Organize Your Time

• Many people who work for others tend to feel
  that they have no role in arranging the time and
  the order in which they complete certain jobs.
• Managing Tasks Effectively
• How do you take control?
• What is your plan?
• What are your task priorities?

Sova, Dawn B Getting Organized at Work Eliminate
Clutter and Whip Your Office into Shape (Learning
Express 1998)
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Getting Organized with Technology

• Technology has expedited the way we conduct
  business, but it has also imposed burdens.
• Organize Your Computer Files
• Have you created electronic subdirectories?
• Have you backed up your files on a hard drive?

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Getting Organized with Technology

• Spreadsheets Just the mention of the word makes
  some think of accountants, while others see this
  as total data control.
• Using Spreadsheets to Get Organized
• Is there a spreadsheet for you?
• How should your spreadsheet look?
• What else can spreadsheets do?
• How do spreadsheets save you time?

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Merging and Purging Information

• Getting organized requires knowing what to keep
  and what to throw away.
• Retaining and Removing Records
• What is your role in company record keeping?
• What guidelines are you following for keeping
  records?

How long do I have to keep attendance records for
my CME activities?An accredited provider must
have mechanisms in place to record and, when
authorized by the participating physician, verify
participation for six years from the date of the
CME activity. How long do I have to keep my
activity files for the purpose of ACCME
accreditation?An accredited provider is required
to retain activity files/records during the
current accreditation term or for the last twelve
months, whichever is longer.
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Merging and Purging Information

• Getting organized requires knowing what to keep
  and what to throw away.
• Destroying Files Safely
• Which files are important?
• Why should you dispose of files?

Do I have to save every piece of paper in my CME
activity files for the purpose of ACCME
reaccreditation?No. For guidance on the nature
of documentation that ACCME will expect to review
at the time of reaccreditation, peruse the
ACCMEs Documentation Review for a CME Activity
(Word) that accreditation surveyors use, as well
as the Documentation Review Form Labels (Word),
which providers use to identify evidence of
compliance within their files/records.
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Staying Organized

• Reaching the goal of getting organized at work
  can take a lot of work.
• Maintenance Tips for Staying Organized at Work
• How can you keep your system working?
• How can your coworkers help?
• What can you do if your system stops working?

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Additional Resources

• Brooks, Lloyd D 101 Spreadsheet Exercises (McGraw
  Hill 1992).
• Eisenberg, Ronni Kelly, Kate Organize Your
  Office Simple Routines for Managing Your
  Workplace 1994-98
• Fox, G. Office Etiquette and Protocol The Basics
  made Easy (Learning Express 1998).
• Morgenstern J. Organizing from the Inside Out.
  New York (Henry Holt and Company, 1998)
• Sova, Dawn B Getting Organized at Work Eliminate
  Clutter and Whip Your Office into Shape (Learning
  Express 1998)
• Zeigler, Kenneth Organizing for Success (McGraw
  Hills 2005).

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QUESTIONS?
Taking Control of Your DocumentsPractical Tips
for Managing CME Documentation