Accreditation for CME/NCPD

Continuing Education Mission

The Continuing Education Mission of IHC is to enhance clinician communication skills for the purpose of contributing to quality healthcare.

This is accomplished through:

1. Providing CME/NCPD activities (including workshop and train-the-trainer programs) to healthcare professionals working in a variety of healthcare settings.
2. Designing and developing educational experiences to enhance clinician communication skills with patients, clients and healthcare teams.
3. Developing and implementing structured and experiential learning formats (e.g., presentation, audio-visual and/or web-based learning, etc.) to facilitate the assimilation of CME/NCPD activity content.
4. Evaluating improvements in clinician communication skills and the impacts of these enhanced skills in clinical practice.

IHC Continuing Education Accreditation

IHC has maintains accreditation status to grant continuing education through two accrediting bodies:

Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)
American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)

IHC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing jointly provide some of the nursing continuing professional development workshops. The University of Pittsburgh is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Nurses completing a jointly provided NPD workshop and the evaluation tool will be awarded the appropriate number of contact hours for that specific workshop.

ACCME Standards for Commercial Support

As an accredited CE/CME Provider, IHC subscribes to the ACCME Standards of Commercial Support (SCS). This ensures that IHC’s educational materials do not contain any advertising, trade names or product group messages, and that the educational content does not include discussion of therapeutic options or the endorsement or discussion of proprietary or commercial products. IHC complies with all ACCME Standards and requires compliance of these same standards from all IHC trained faculty in their planning and delivery of IHC workshops.

CME/NCPD Committee

IHC’s U.S. Advisory Council serves as the official CME Committee.

Thomas L. Campbell, MD
William Rocktasel Professor and Chair of Family Medicine, University of Rochester

Susan Cohen, PhD
Director of Counseling/Chairperson, the Carola Walburg Rothschild Society for the Human Animal Bond

Jacqueline Dunbar-Jacob, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dean, School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh

Suzanne M. Kurtz, PhD
Clinical Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University
Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary

Dennis Novack, MD
Professor of Medicine
Associate Dean of Medical Education, Drexel University College of Education

James Bell, MPAS, PA-C
Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Healthcare Communication

CME Committee members’ roles and responsibilities include:

Lend professional input in development of CME activities
Provide guidance to ensure that the CME Program is consistent with the CME mission and compliant with Accreditation Standards including Standards of Commercial Support.
Serve as CME Activity Planners
Review CME Policy and Procedures
Participate in media events, such as symposia, interviews or roundtable publications.