CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE) held a training workshop on April 1, 2016 to educate CE providers on its new accreditation criteria and changes to the COPE accreditation processes. Over 100 people attended the workshop, which took place at the Loews Chicago O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Ill.

Attendees included optometry and medical schools, state and regional optometric associations, insurance and health benefits companies, media and journals, ophthalmology practices, national CE providers, medical education companies, international CE providers and state boards of optometry.

The workshop was designed to assist optometric CE professionals in developing strategies to ensure their organizational compliance with the COPE accreditation criteria, standards for commercial support and COPE policies. In addition to representatives from COPE, there were speakers at the workshop from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medication Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEHP).

There was also a presentation on best practices in CE/CME from the Veterans Health Administration Employee Education System (VHA EES). In 2015, COPE announced that it was changing its CE accreditation system to be equivalent to other health care professions, to support the overall direction toward collaborative, inter-disciplinary care for better patient outcomes and improved community health.

The workshop provided participants with an interactive platform to engage with their CE colleagues as well as members of the COPE committee and ARBO staff. Following the meeting, attendees reported having a better understanding of why COPE accreditation is evolving and how the new requirements, which align COPE with other health care accreditors, will strengthen their CE programs.

One attendee, Diana Durham, associate director for accreditation, Veterans Health Administration Employee Education System (VHA EES), remarked, “I’m truly excited about the changes COPE is making to go in an inter-professional direction. We are currently accredited to provide continuing education to 18 different professions and I’m thrilled to add optometry to the list. Becoming a COPE Accredited Provider will allow the VHA EES to educate our optometrists to provide better care for veterans, which is the ultimate goal.”

COPE has historically accredited individual CE activities. Starting in 2017, CE providers will be able to choose to become an Accredited Provider, which allows them greater freedom and flexibility, or to continue to have their activities individually accredited by COPE. Susy Yu, OD, ARBO president, commented, “The workshop was a huge success. We brought together a community of optometric CE professionals to learn the new process and share ideas with each other. We had such a great response to the workshop that we’re planning to make this an annual event.”

COPE speakers, (l to r) Susy Yu, OD, MBA, FAAO, ARBO president; Jill Martinson, OD, COPE committee member; Steve Singer, PhD, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME); Dimitra Travlos, PharmD, CPE Provider Accreditation and Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE); Diana Durham, PhD, VHA Employee Education System; and Lisa Fennell, ARBO.