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Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education Expands to Include Two More Professions

January 19, 2018

Continuing Education Accreditors for Physician Assistants and Optometrists Collaborate with Accreditors in Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy to Advance Healthcare Education for the Team, by the Team

Chicago, IL; Silver Spring, MD; Charlotte, NC; Alexandria, VA

January 19, 2018

Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education is pleased to announce a new collaboration with the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) and the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry’s Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (ARBO/COPE).

Since 2009, Joint Accreditation has offered organizations the opportunity to be simultaneously accredited to provide continuing education for physicians, pharmacists, and nurses through a unified accreditation process and set of accreditation standards. The new collaboration expands Joint Accreditation, giving jointly accredited interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) organizations the option to include PAs (physician assistants) and optometrists in their education programs, without needing to attain separate accreditations with AAPA and COPE.

The accreditors collaborated to expand Joint Accreditation in response to requests from jointly accredited organizations and because of their commitment to team-based education. The goal of the expansion is to increase the benefits that jointly accredited organizations already receive from the unified accreditation process and to support their efforts to deliver high-quality, effective IPCE that improves team collaboration and patient care.

Leadership Comments

“We celebrate our collaboration with our colleague accreditors, AAPA and COPE, because it empowers educators to expand the diversity of their IPCE programs. With IPCE, all voices are heardand this collaboration promotes the involvement of more professions in improving team care for the patients we all serve.”Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, President and CEO, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®)

“Our role as accreditors is to listen to our community of IPCE educators and create more opportunities for them to improve the quality of IPCE. As a result of our collaboration with AAPA and COPE, jointly accredited organizations can bring more professions together to learn from, about, and with each other, with the common goal of addressing healthcare challenges and improving patient care.” Peter H. Vlasses, PharmD, DSc (Hon), FCCP, Executive Director, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)

“Our community of jointly accredited IPCE providers has demonstrably improved collaborative care among healthcare professionals and patient outcomes. This new opportunity enables them to benefit patients by building stronger, more inclusive teams. We welcome our colleague accreditors at AAPA and COPE to our Joint Accreditation team and look forward to working together to advance interprofessional collaborative practice in healthcare education delivery.”Kathy Chappell, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN, Senior Vice President, Accreditation, Certification, Measurement, and the Institute for Credentialing Research, American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)

“AAPA and the PA profession are committed to team practice and collaboration, which are critical to improving patient outcomes. We are excited to work with ACCME, ACPE, ANCC, and COPE on the Joint Accreditation team, and through this effort, add the PA voice to valuable interprofessional conversations about improving team-based care and the patient experience.”L. Gail Curtis, PA-C, MPAS, DFAAPA, President and Chair of the AAPA Board of Directors

“ARBO is honored and thrilled that COPE has become a member of the Joint Accreditation team. This is the culmination of over 20 years of work to advance and promote high standards and quality in optometric continuing education. It is also a recognition that optometrists are vital members of the healthcare team. The mission of COPE has always been to improve patient outcomes. By entering into this collaboration with ACCME, ACPE, ANCC, and AAPA, all organizations can join together to improve the quality of medical care delivered by the entire healthcare team.”Richard Orgain, OD, President, Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry (ARBO)

Joint Accreditation Media Inquiries

Tamar Hosansky
312-245-4066
[email protected]

Megan Peters Jovic
312-245-4054
[email protected]

Joint Accreditation Eligibility Inquiries

[email protected]

Joint Accreditation Speaking Engagements

Joint Accreditation executive leaders are available for speaking engagements to discuss the opportunities for continuing education to advance interprofessional education and collaborative practice through the Joint Accreditation program. For more information, please contact: [email protected].

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About Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education

Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education establishes the standards for organizations to deliver continuing education planned by the healthcare team for the healthcare team. This innovation promotes interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) that leads to improved healthcare delivery and better patient outcomes.

Joint Accreditation enables organizations to achieve distinction from the leading healthcare continuing education accreditors in the professions of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and optometry. Joint Accreditation helps organizations increase operational efficiency, saving time, money, and resources; provide continuing education for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, PAs, and optometrists separately or together; and improve collaboration and reduce hierarchies among healthcare professions. Jointly accredited providers are entitled to award Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits.

Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education was founded in 2009 by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). For more information, visit www.jointaccreditation.org.