Accreditation Basics

ACCREDITATION BASICS

The accreditation basics include the following:

• Accreditation Period, Renewal and Extension
• CCCEP Accreditation Number
• Calculating CEUs

ACCREDITATION PERIOD, RENEWAL and Extension

1.    Accreditation Period

The initial accreditation period for new learning activities (Live, Independent Study, Blended, and Regularly Scheduled Series) is one year.   The accreditation period for a Conference is the date(s) of the conference.  

2.    Accreditation Renewal and Extension

Learning activity accreditation (excluding conferences and regularly scheduled series) may be renewed up to two times, each for a one year period.

Following the second renewal, an application for Extension may be submitted.

If extension is approved, which is also for a one year period, two additional renewal periods will then be allowed.

Essentially, a learning activity may last for a total of 6 years in total, provided no major (greater than 10% of the content) updates are required. 

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CCCEP ACCREDITATION NUMBER

The CCCEP Accreditation Number has five sections:

1. Program provider number

2. Year submitted

3. Automatically generated sequential number

4. Delivery Mode (L = Live, I = Independent Study, B = Blended, C = Conference, R = Regularly Scheduled Series)

5. Target Audience (P = Pharmacist, T = Technician, Z = Pharmacists and Technicians)

Example: 1092-2020-1356-L-P – was submitted by provider number 1092 in 2020 and is a live learning activity for pharmacists.  The sequential number (1356) means it is the 1356th activity to be submitted.

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CALCULATING CEUs

One Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is equivalent to one contact hour (60 minutes).
 
A minimum of one-quarter CEU (15 minutes) is required for accreditation.

The total number of CEUs of a learning activity:

• Include the contact hours of a live learning activity or the estimated contact hours to complete an independent study activity;
• Include the time for the learner to complete the learner assessment;
• Exclude breaks and non-educational activities greater than 5 minutes in a live learning activity.

The estimated contact hours for independent study activities may be determined by one, or a combination of, the following:

• The time-to-complete the learning activity by a CCCEP Learning Review Panel.
• The Mergener formula (for journal articles and similar activities).
• The time to complete a verified pilot test of the learning activity with a group representative of the target audience.
• Other verifiable process that is approved in advance by the Executive Director.

To learn more about the Mergener formula, go to the Mergener formula page.

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