Jointly Providing an Educational Event
NOTE: Joint providership was previously known as co-providership
Q. What is the difference between co-sponsor and joint provider?
A. Joint-providership is the planning, development and implementation of an educational activity by two (2) or more organizations or agencies. The ANCC accredited/Midwest MSD approved organization is held fully responsible for particular aspects of the process to assure adherence to all the ANCC/Midwest MSD criteria. A written joint provider agreement is required. The terminology “co-sponsor” is no longer used.
Q. What is the advantage of jointly providing an activity?
A. Jointly providing an activity provides a great opportunity for organizations to work together, share expertise, workload and other resources. An Approved Provider Unit however must be designated the lead provider and is responsible for adhering to all ANCC/Midwest MSD requirements.
Q. When a hospital is approved, but is part of a larger organization system, can they offer programs developed for the entire system under their name?
A. No. The Approved Provider Unit plans an educational activity based on the needs assessment and gap analysis of the identified target audience. The target audience may be specific to their organization or may be broader and include nurses from other organizations. This provider can also jointly provide with other hospitals (either within the hospital system or without).
Q. When a Nursing Continuing Professional Development (NCPD) unit and a Continuing Medical Education (CME) unit from the same organization/facility work together to provide an educational activity, is that jointly providing?
A. No it is not considered jointly providing. The NCPD unit is responsible for adherence to ANCC/ Midwest MSD criteria and the CME unit is responsible for adherence to the Accreditation Council Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) criteria. They may share documents that are appropriate, etc. but they remain separate adhering to their separate criteria. This remains the same for other continuing education providers such as the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). The active involvement of the Nurse Planner must be evident. The planning, implementation and evaluation of the educational event documentation must reflect the role of the Nurse Planner. The Nurse Planner is also responsible to oversee that the needs of the Registered Nurse members of the target audience are also addressed. Having a Registered Nurse listed as a member of the planning committee does not suffice to meet this requirement. Evidence of the Nurse Planner involvement may include, but is not limited to: 1) nursing-focused learning outcomes, 2) topics that address the learning needs of the Registered Nurse, 3) Outcomes that address gaps in knowledge, skill and/or practice of the Registered Nurse.
Q: Can we offer contact hours for healthcare professionals who need to learn to use websites and software tools that help them to work, learn, and collaborate virtually, especially during a public health crisis?
A: Yes, just be aware that certain state Boards of Nursing, may not accept such content (and therefore the related contact hours) for the purposes of relicensure.