Obtaining CME Sponsorship

In March 2010, the American Thoracic Society was re-accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians for the next four years. ATS is ACCME provider #0000165. ATS sponsorship enables physicians participating in an ATS- designated CME activity to earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. 

Faculty Development

The ATS is committed to faculty development in effective teaching methods. This is to uphold our mission and our motto --“from bench to bedside”.  We appreciate all the physician planners and faculty who make our CME program what it is.  Do not hesitate to utilize the Faculty Development Resources originally prepared for training key leaders in our CME.  In addition, we would welcome your call or email to the Educational Programs Unit to discuss your ideas and needs. We are happy to provide customized training to an individual, group, Committee or Assembly. rmakleff@thoracic.org is the contact point.

Notifying ATS you would like to Obtain Sponsorship – Six month Minimum Before Event Start Is Required

CME activities initiated within the ATS include the International Conference, the State of the Art Course, other local and regional offerings, CDs, captured materials archived for the Internet, manuscript review and articles from ATS journals. In these cases, ATS is aware that CME designation will be pursued. In the case of Assembly Projects, case vignettes and Thoracic Society Chapter live activities and enduring materials ATS must be notified in order to assist.  Schedule a conference call with ATS to discuss scope and logistics of the activity at least 6 months in advance of the offering.  We recommend nine months if possible.

ATS Assembly Projects and Case Vignettes

If you have accessed this section of the ATS website in search of CME sponsorship for an ATS Assembly project or case vignettes you must notify the ATS Education Program Unit at the earliest so staff can provide you with customized forms and guidance. Timing is critical as certain steps cannot be taken once time has passed. Please contact Eileen Larsson, Director, Education Products and Programs, elarsson@thoracic.org, 212-315-8609 or Rachel Makleff, Ph.D., Director, Tactical Management and CME Development at rmakleff@thoracic.org, 212-315-8644.

Public Advisory Roundtable (PAR) Organizations and National/International Medical Societies

The ATS has served as CME sponsor for activities initiated by select international medical societies, PAR organizations and Lung Associations. These have included both live and enduring materials.  Please inquire at least nine months before your projected event or launch date, earlier if possible. rmakleff@thoracic.org  212 315 8644 or cwhite@thoracic.org 212 315 8640.

Thoracic Society Chapters 

Effective January 2010, Thoracic Society Chapters must sign a charter agreement with the ATS and notify us about plans for CME activities for the coming twelve month period and beyond.  A member of the ATS staff then contacts the Chapter to begin the application process. If the Chapter has an administrator, the administrator will be sent an application and related materials and will forward these to planners and faculty as appropriate. If the Chapter is managed by ATS completely, planners and faculty will receive materials from ATS. In either case the CME Director acts as a member of the planning committee. For ready reference, the application and related templates are posted below.  As a new feature this year, the application has been divided into three sections to be submitted to ATS as planning milestones within each section are obtained.  Designation is contingent on completing the first two sections four months in advance of the activity launch date. The third section is the post activity report due 30 – 45 days after the offering has taken place.

Until further notice, each section is prepared in a zip file and e-mailed via a special drop box. If you scroll down to the bottom of the first page of the application you will find precise directions for the drop box.

In the near future, submission to ATS of the application and related materials will be through special CME software. We will notify our Chapters when this change becomes effective.

Joint Sponsorship Application and Tools for Thoracic Society Chapters

Below you will find links to the ATS Joint Sponsorship Application and Tools. Each is meant to ensure your CME planning proceeds smoothly and in accordance with the rules. While we allow no changes in the application template many forms in the tool kit are in MS Word to allow customizing to your particular situation. For questions about these resources please contact either Rachel Makleff, Ph.D., Director, Tactical Management and CME Development at 212-315-8644, rmakleff@thoracic.org or, in her absence, please contact Eileen Larsson, Director, Education Products and Programs, elarsson@thoracic.org, 212-315-8609. Please note that many application tools have been temporarily withdrawn from the website or changed as we transition to new CME software and new processes.

Applying to Commercial Interests* (Industry) for Grants and Related Deadlines

On April 15, 2008, ATS assumed complete responsibility for application to industry for CME grants on behalf of chapters. ATS will decline to consider an application for CME sponsorship where industry has been solicited for support by anyone other than ATS grant writing staff upon notification that the chapter event has been designated for CME.

*The ATS definition of industry is the same as the ACCME definition of commercial interests. We quote from the ACCME website below:

A commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients.  (Revised August 2007)

The ACCME does not consider providers of clinical service directly to patients to be commercial interests.

A commercial interest is not eligible for ACCME accreditation. Within the context of this definition and limitation, the ACCME considers the following types of organizations to be eligible for accreditation and free to control the content of CME:

• 501-C Non-profit organizations (Note:  ACCME screens 501c organizations for eligibility.  Those that advocate for 'commercial interests' as a 501c organization are not eligible for accreditation in the ACCME system.  They cannot serve in the role of joint sponsor, but they can be a commercial supporter.)
• Government organizations
• Non-health care related companies
• Liability insurance providers
• Health insurance providers
• Group medical practices
• For-profit hospitals
• For profit rehabilitation centers
• For-profit nursing homes
• Blood banks
• Diagnostic laboratories”

Applicants to ATS for CME joint sponsorship may continue on their own to raise funds through grants from supporters such as government or foundations defined by ACCME as not “commercial interests”. These definitions are embedded in the ATS CME budget template, and planning committee and faculty disclosure forms.

Soliciting Grants from Exhibitors

If your exhibitor is not a commercial interest as defined by ACCME, you may solicit funds beyond your normal exhibit fee.  These funds will be considered educational grants for which no letter of agreement is needed.  If your exhibitor is a commercial interest as defined by ACCME, you may not solicit funds beyond your normal exhibit fee and you may not suggest a grant amount.  However, the invitation to potential exhibitors who are commercial interests may state: “If your company might be open to consideration of a grant request from ATS National to support this CME activity, please check yes and indicate a contact person and e mail address.”