Continuing Medical Education (CME)

CommonSpirit Health CME is accredited by the Colorado Medical Society to provide continuing medical education for providers and designates AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. This program offers educational activities that maintain, develop or increase knowledge, skills and professional performance.

CME Calendar

The CME Calendar includes CME approved educational events covering a wide range of topics, in both the online and in-person format.

Enduring Materials

Enduring material activities do not have a specific time or location designated for participation. Rather, the participant determines whether to and when to complete the activity. Online interactive educational modules, recorded presentations and podcasts are examples of enduring materials. For more information, contact CME Coordinator, Caroline Ponce-Wortmann.

Journal-Based

Journal-based activities are planned and presented and in which the learner reads one or more articles (or adapted formats for special needs) from a peer-reviewed, professional journal. For more information, contact CME Coordinator, Caroline Ponce-Wortmann.

Live Activities

Single, multi-event, recurring and internet-based events are live activities that occur at specific times. Participation may be in person or remotely as is the case of teleconferences or live internet webinars.

What is Continuing Medical Education (CME)?
CommonSpirit Health Continuing Medical Education (CME) program is to promote continuous improvement in patient health care through high-quality, evidence based, educational activities for physicians and other health care professionals.

The CME program seeks to develop and provide a variety of CME activities that meet the educational needs of physicians identified by gaps in knowledge, competence, or performance and provide an opportunity to affect patient care.

What type of CME does CommonSpirit offer?
CommonSpirit CME accredits multiple types of activities:

• Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS). Grand rounds and weekly/monthly multidisciplinary conferences.
• Symposiums. Day-long symposium, yearly staff meeting, annual half-day conference, symposium with breakout sessions and multi-day conferences.
• Enduring Materials. Videos, presentations, or reading materials in which the participant can receive AMA Category 1 CEU for successfully completing.
• Internet-Based Activity. Online videos, presentations, or reading materials in which the participant can receive AMA Category 1 CEU for successfully completing.
• Short Course. Physician training courses and CommonSpirit HRO training.

What type of CME credit do providers need?
AMA PRA Category 1 CEU is the most common type of credit providers need for medical license maintenance. For an activity to be designated for AMA PRA Category 1 CEU, it must be planned by an accredited CME provider (e.g., CommonSpirit Health CME).

What is the difference between Category 1 and Category 2 Credit?

• Category 1 CEU. Formally planned activities that include documentation of acceptable needs assessment, learning objectives, educational design, an evaluation method, and disclosure. Category 1 CEU is planned and implemented in full compliance with the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support and prospectively certified for credit by an ACCME-accredited CME provider.
• Category 2 CEU. "Self claim" credits informally planned by provider-initiated activities, such as: practice-based self-study; consultations with colleagues; teaching; morbidity and mortality conferences; and, journal clubs. CommonSpirit Health is not involved with planning, certifying, or tracking Category 2 activities. CommonSpirit Health CME only accredits Category 1 programs.

What is the difference between a direct and jointly provided CME activity?

• Directly provided CME activity. Is planned, implemented and evaluated by the accredited provider.
• Jointly provided CME activity. Is planned, implemented and evaluated by the accredited provider and a non-accredited entity.

What is the cost of CME certification?
Most CommonSpirit education is free of charge, however, there are conferences that have an associated fee. Please confirm with the conference planners for additional information.

Why do CME faculty have to complete a CME disclosure form?
The ACCME requires CME providers to require everyone who is in a position to control the content of an educational activity to disclose all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest(s) in order to prevent potential bias in the educational content.

Is it okay for a pharmaceutical sales representative to bring in food for a grant rounds session?
No, pharmaceutical sales representatives or representatives of medical product/device manufacturers cannot pay directly for the food. However, they can provide an educational grant for a CME event in support of the food costs.

A pharmaceutical company has offered to provide an educational grant to cover the speaker's honorarium, but they will "take care of the speaker's travel." Is this okay?
No, the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support require that all support from commercial interests be provided to the accredited CME provider in the form of an educational grant.

Can a pharmaceutical company choose who will speak at my department's meeting?
No, it is up to the activity director to select appropriate topics and speakers for their CME activity based upon the target audience's educational needs. The activity director can request a speaker list from a pharmaceutical representative and then select an appropriate speaker and topic from the list. The activity director should then communicate with the chosen speaker and delineate the learning objectives he/she would like the speaker to address.

A pharmaceutical company has provided an educational grant to support a grand rounds session that is certified for AMA PRA Category 1 CEU. The company has signed a grant agreement to cover the meeting expenses and one of the sales representatives wants to give a short presentation on the company's newest product at the beginning (or end) of the session. Is this allowed?
No, CME providers cannot allow representatives of commercial interests to engage in sales or promotional activities while in the space or place of the CME activity.

How do I obtain CME credit for an activity I am planning?
If you are interested in providing CEU for your activity, please contact the CommonSpirit Health CME department to discuss the requirements and fill out the needed forms.

Do I have to pre-register to attend an activity?
Most activities do not require pre-registration. Check the activity information listed in the CME Portal calendar for additional information.

Do I have to be credentialed through CommonSpirit to attend Grand Rounds?
No, CommonSpirit Grand Rounds is open to all interested healthcare providers. Grand Rounds are held every Thursday from 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm MST via zoom meeting ID 720 504 217.

Where can I find a schedule of upcoming events?
Please view our CE Calendar in our CME Portal to see what activities are available.

How do I get a list of CME activities that I completed through CommonSpirit Health?
Please contact a CME coordinator listed under the Contact Us section.

Are any of CommonSpirit’s CME events recorded?
Some of our CME presentation are recorded. These recorded lectures are available for informational purposes and cannot be claimed for Category 1 CEU.

We look forward to helping you continue your medical education and knowledge. For questions or more information related to providers, please contact:

David L. Watson, MD
Medical Education Director
Email

For questions or more information on credits, the portal and other CME information, please reach out to the following CME Coordinators:

Alexis Rodmon
Continuing Medical Education Coordinator
Greater Colorado & Kansas: 719-776-2752
Email

Caroline Ponce-Wortmann
Continuing Medical Education Coordinator
Metro Denver: 303-715-7011
Email