The following fields are required to establish, or “open” an activity in PARS:
- Activity Type (e.g. Course, Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS), Enduring Material, etc.)
- Activity Title
- Activity Date
- Activity Location (Courses and RSS only)
- Reporting Year
The following fields are required to complete, or “close”, an activity listing in PARS.
- Sponsorship (Direct or Joint)
- Hours of Instruction
- Designed to change (Competence, Performance or Patient Outcomes)?
- Changes in (Competence, Performance or Patient Outcomes) evaluated?
- Number of physicians who participated in the activity
- Number of non-physicians who participated in the activity
- Commercial Support Received? (Y/N)
- If Yes, Number of Commercial Supporters
- If Yes, Total Monetary Amount of Commercial Support Received and/or Nature of In-Kind Commercial Support Received.
The required information listed above is the same data and information that the ACCME had previously required through the Accreditation Process.
Additionally, there are optional fields that a provider can also choose to enter for each activity in PARS. See our FAQ about Optional Fields.
Finally, the ACCME requires that some data be completed on the Program Summary tab in PARS for each reporting year beginning with 2010. This information is equivalent to that previously requested in the Annual Report Process:
- Total amount of commercial support in [Reporting Year] – this field will tally automatically based on information you have entered for each activity.
- Total advertising & exhibit income received in [Reporting Year] – this field will tally any information that is entered for each activity (optional at the activity level), however you can also enter “Total advertising and exhibit income received in support of your overall CME program” if you do not track this information on a per activity basis or do not chose to report it on a per activity basis.
- Total income received from other sources in [Reporting Year] – this field will tally any information that is entered for each activity (optional at the activity level), however you can also enter “Income received from other sources in support of your overall CME program” if you do not track this information on a per activity basis or do not chose to report it on a per activity basis.
- Total expenses of your CME unit in [Reporting Year] – this field will tally any information that is entered for each activity (optional at the activity level), however you can also enter “CME program expenses” for expenses that may not have been allocated to a specific CME activity
Data from the 2011 Reporting Year must be entered into PARS by March 30, 2012.
