FP CME Requirements

During the 2014 legislative session, the South Carolina General Assembly made several important changes to the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) managed by SC DHEC (also known as SCRIPTS). Governor Haley signed S. 840 into law on June 6, 2014. It made two important changes applicable to physicians:

• physicians and other prescribers are now able to designate an “authorized delegate within their practice to access the PMP for them. (Previously, the law required prescribers to access the PMP themselves)
• physicians are required to obtain two (2) continuing medical education credit hours related to the approved procedures of prescribing and monitoring controlled substances. (this applies to renewals in 2015)

According to the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners:

• To renew a permanent medical license by the June 30, 2015 deadline, permanently licensed physicians in South Carolina are required to certify completion of two (2) Category 1 CME hours in approved procedures of prescribing and monitoring controlled substances. This new CME requirement does NOT apply to (1) physicians who are renewing their licenses for the first time after receipt of permanent licensure, (2) reinstatement applicants or (3) physicians with a Limited License. However, this new requirement DOES apply to permanently licensed physicians who do not currently prescribe controlled substances.
• As part of the 40 hours of CME that you must complete every two years in order to renew your license, you must now receive and certify completion of two (2) Category 1 CME hours in approved procedures of prescribing and monitoring controlled substances before your license will be renewed. These 2 required hours may be counted toward the required 30 hours you must receive in your specialty. The total hours required for CME compliance is still 40 hours, not 42. Offerings that fulfill this requirement include but are not limited to CME hours in controlled substance prescribing sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards, (e.g. “Responsible Opioid Prescribing, A Clinician’s Guide” by Scott M. Fishman, MD) the South Carolina Medical Association, other professional organizations with ACCME or CCME certified CME (e.g. AAFP, ACP), and any FDA-REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) compliant CME courses.

Note: AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association as equivalent to AMA Category 1 Credit

American Academy of Family Physicians’ members should inform sponsors and producers of continuing medical Education (CME) programs, [e.g. hospitals, medical schools, and other organizations], of the Academy’s CME requirements. If such organizations wish to have their courses and programs reviewed for approval by the Academy, they must follow the criteria, definition and rules of the Academy. Sponsors can obtain program application information at Accreditation Services at AAFP CME forms

General Requirements –

Each AAFP active and supporting member, to be eligible for reelection to membership, must complete 150 hours of approved continuing medical education (CME) every three years, of which a minimum of 25 must be obtained from group learning activities and a minimum of 75 must be prescribed credit.

It shall be responsibility of each individual member to report hours of CME activity.

Sources for Prescribed Credit

A CME activity may be approved for Prescribed credit hours if the program is intended primarily for physicians and has been planned/developed with input from an AAFP member who is classified as an Active or Life Member.

1. CME activities for which application has been made to the AAFP Commission on Continuing Medical Education and approved for AAFP Prescribed credit hours.

2. Extended training activity conducted in a teaching hospital which may be individually planned or mini-residency/fellowship programs for which no formal application has been made to the AAFP for CME credit and which are submitted to AAFP commission on continuing medical education as an individual request for consideration and determination of approval. Limit of 50 hours per year.

3. Mini-residency/fellowship programs designed for practicing physcians, and approved by the AAFP Commission on Continuing Medical Education. Limit of 50 hours per week with a maximum of 150 hours per year .

4. Enduring materials (defined as any educational materials which may be retained by the physician as part of the physician’s personal library) which have been approved by the AAFP Comission on continuing Medical Education. (For review for approval of Enduring Materials, see definitions and procedures offered in “Information and Rules Regarding Approcal of Enduring Materials – Instruction Sheet for Reprint 103.” Hour-for-Hour credit to be allowed as specified upon completion of each course or module

5. Teaching medical students, residents, physicians, physician assisteant students or nurse practitioner students. Maximum of 20 hours per year.

6.Original scientific or socioeconomic research pertaining to patient care, public or community health, published in a state or national “refereed” journal. Limit of 15 hours per paper, with a maximum of 45 hours per three-year-period.

Sources for Elective Credit

CME programs, outlined as follows, may be acceptable for Elective Credit . No AAFP member family medicine input is required for Elective Credit.

1. Presentation or publication at the National Academy, AAFP constituent chapter, or other medical society level of an original scientific or socioeconomic paper pertaining to medical care. Limit of 10 hours per paper, with a maximum of 30 hours per three-year period.

2. Preparation and presentation of a scientific medical exhibit at a meeting of the National AAFP or AAFP constituent chapter. Limit of 15 hours per three-year period.

3. Educational activities produced by an organization or institution accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians which have been designated as Category 1 credit for the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award and which have not been approved for AAFP Prescribed credit. (NOTE: See “Activities Not Eligible for Credit” for programs which do not qualify.)

4. Other medical educational experiences and programs as well as informal self-learning activities of an enduring nature that are not AAFP approved or produced by an ACCME accredited institution or organization (see Item I), but are of a nature of ENRICHMENT to the family physician. Limit of 25 hours per three-year period.

Activities Not Eligible for Credit

1. Activities which may be educational but which are considered part of a physician’s PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY are not eligible for CME credit hours. Such activities include time spent in patient record review, peer review, community/public educational activities, and service as a medical missionary.

2. Enduring materials for which the term of approval for CME credit has expired may not be claimed for CME credit hours.

3. Programs produced by proprietary entities such as pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, etc.

What is re-election you ask?

Active members are required to report at least 150 approved CME credits every 3 calendar years. This is called the “re-election cycle”. It always ends on December 31. To be eligible for re-election, members must earn the credits within that 3 year period.

What are the requirements for re-election?

Active members must report at least 150 hours of approved CME credit every 3 calendar years. 75 hours of the 150 total hours must be Prescribed credits. Prescribed credit means that the activity is primarily for family physicians and that a family physician was actively involved in planning of the of the activity.

Examples of Prescribed credit include:

• Instruction of health professions learners in formal individual (e.g., preceptorships) or live educational formats. You can report a maximum of 60 total credits for the 3 year period.
• Most life support courses (e.g., ALSO, ACLS, ATLS, BLS, NALS, PALS)
• American Family Physician and FPM journal quizzes
• Most activities produced by the AAFP
• Some point-of-care learning
• Scholarly activities. These are limited to 100 Prescribed credits.

If an activity is not accredited as a Prescribed credit, it is to be reported as an Elective credit. Those include the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician's Recognition Award (PRA) Category 1 CreditTM or have been approved by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) are acceptable as AAFP Elective credit.

Additional examples of Elective credit include:

• Professional enrichment activities for which proof of completion is not required. You can report a maximum of 25 credits.
• Activities approved for American Medical Association (AMA) Physician’s Recognition Award (PRA) Category 1 Credit TM
• Activities approved for American Osteopathic Association (AOA) credit
• Programs created without family physician input and designed for nonphysician health care professionals, if they have medical education content of interest to family physicians

The South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners (SCBME) has partnered with the CME reporting service, CE Broker, to track CME for license renewal for South Carolina licensees. Any member who holds an active medical license in the state of South Carolina will need to report their CME via CE Broker. This system was put in place by the SCBME to assist licensees with tracking their hours and to conform to auditing requirements.

The SCAFP partnered with the AAFP to simplify the process. All members who have a valid South Carolina license on file with the AAFP will have their AAFP and chapter produced CME sent to CE Broker.

The criteria for the CME to be transmitted to CE Broker are:

• They must be a current member of the AAFP.
• They must have a US address.
• They must have a valid South Carolina license on file at AAFP. It must be formatted exactly as it is in the SCBME.
• The CME must be produced by the AAFP or a chapter.
• The CME is sent to CE Broker every two hours between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. CT.

Members can view their CME at CE Broker if they have created a FREE account with CE Broker. They can do that at https://cebroker.com/

Members simply continue to report CME to the AAFP through Primary+, and the Academy will then share any AAFP or chapter produced CME with CE Broker.

How does this work?

AAFP/SCAFP members who are licensed in South Carolina, CME activities produced by AAFP or any chapter will be sent to CE Broker.

• Upon completion of the CME activity, the physician will need to report the CME to the AAFP.
• The AAFP then will share reported CME for AAFP or any chapter produced CME to CE Broker.
• Therefore, CE Broker will already have those CME records on file for your license renewal.

It's important that you continue to report all CME you complete to the AAFP since you'll receive the valuable benefit of automatically reporting to the ABFM when you meet their requirements as well as uploading to CE Broker. By doing so, you'll reduce your administrative tasks even further!

Thank you for your continued membership in the AAFP.

https://www.aafp.org/membership/benefits/resources/primary-plus.html

1. CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for chronic pain:
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/prescribing/guideline.html

2. South Carolina Overdose Death Data for 2020 Shows Stark Increase during First Year of COVID-19 Pandemic
https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/south-carolina-overdose-death-data-2020-shows-stark-increase-during-first-year-covid

3. Drug Control Related Topics
https://scdhec.gov/healthcare-quality/drug-control-register-verify/drug-control-related-topics