Overview - Accreditation Types and Accreditation Categories
CCCEP Accreditation, which ensures programs meet established CCCEP's Standards and Requirements for Accreditation, is recognized by all provinces and territories in Canada.
CCCEP accreditation begins with an application for the accreditation of a New Learning Activity.
- New Learning Activity: accreditation of a learning activity that has not been previously accredited by CCCEP or a CCCEP accredited learning activity in which more than 10% of the content has been changed.
Once accredited, a provider may apply for three different types of changes to the accreditation (Administrative, Delivery Type, or Activity Update).
- Administrative Change: A review conducted when there is a change in an administrative component of the learning activity (e.g. provider), name or title of the activity, removal of a section of an accredited learning activity, or other situations approved by CCCEP.
- Delivery Type Change: the accreditation of a currently accredited learning activity in a different delivery mode after the necessary revisions (e.g., accredit a live learning activity as an independent study, or vice versa).
- Activity Update: A review conducted when there are changes in a few key facts or content (maximum 10% of content) to keep the learning activity current and according to the latest research or accepted practice.
CCCEP provides a regular review process and a fast track process. While the same review process is used for both types of applications, a fast track review is completed in less than half the time of the regular review.
While regular accreditation is typical for most programs, CCCEP also conducts Competency Mapped Accreditation. This is an enhanced accreditation process. Competency Mapped programs must meet a set of pre-determined competencies. Programs submitted for Competency Mapped accreditation are first reviewed for regular accreditation (stage 1) and then reviewed to ensure that the objectives and content of the program meet the pre-determined set of requirements or standards for a subject area (stage 2). The current Competency Mapped Accredited Program areas are: Immunization and Injection; Cannabis and Patient Care in Pharmacy, and Compounding (Non-Sterile, Sterile Non-Hazardous, and Sterile Hazardous).
CCCEP also conducts Learning Objective Mapped Accreditation where programs must meet a set of pre-determined learning objectives. Programs submitted for Learning Objective Mapped accreditation are first reviewed as regular learning activities (stage 1) and then reviewed to ensure that the objectives and content of the program meet the pre-determined requirements for a subject area (stage 2). There is one Learning Objective Mapped Accredited Program area currently: Pharmacy Manager Training.
CCCEP also provides accreditation for Conferences. A conference is a set of learning activities by different presenters on diverse topics that are combined into a single program by the program provider. A conference accreditation is issued to a conference organization for the accreditation of one or more sessions to be presented at a conference. The application for conference accreditation will be made by the conference organizer. Only the organization that is hosting the conference and considered the “conference organizer” may apply for a conference accreditation. The accreditation review process is the same as for a new learning activity, except for the following:
- Exemption from Expert Review.
- Exemption from Learner Assessment.
The conference organizer is responsible to ensure that conference presenters are aware of and follow the standards for clinical relevance, unbiased presentation, completeness, accuracy and references.
Finally, CCCEP's newest category of accreditation is Regularly Scheduled Series. A Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS) is a set/series of multiple live continuing health education sessions that occur on an ongoing, scheduled basis (e.g. weekly, monthly, quarterly) that are organized by, and meet the learning needs of, a defined group of health professionals. The learning activities of an RSS are organized by an RSS approved Provider, under the guidance of a Scientific Planning Committee (SPC). To seek accreditation for RSS activities providers must first meet the criteria for, and be approved as, an RSS provider.
