Local Chapter CEU Guidelines 2013

Contents

Mission

Submitting For Approval

Editing an Event

Communication with AAPC

Presenters

Event titles

Types of CEUs

Specialty Approvals

Meeting Content

Core B Material

Ineligible Content/Time:

Review Classes

ICD-10 Content

Fees

Local Chapters and Outside Vendors

Unacceptable Meeting Behavior

Mission

All educational providers of AAPC must uphold a higher standard in education. AAPC Local Chapters must provide education to their chapter membersby providing relevant material designed to stretch their skill level. AAPC’s national office must provide a thorough and fair review process for all educational events submitted to AAPC by local chapter officersand provide timely and consistent CEU approvals.

AAPC grants prior approval for continuing education programs based on the relevance of the program content to the medical coding, reimbursement, compliance, and billing profession. This document outlines the standards and processes for obtaining AAPC Local Chapter CEUs.

Submitting For Approval

All event submissions must be made well in advance of the actual event. 30 days is recommended. Submissions submitted less than 2 weeks from the date of the event risk not receiving approval prior to the event date. Submitting early guarantees that your request will be processed and that members will be notified well in advance of the event to allow for proper arrangement time.

All event requests are processed in the order that they are received.

  • Allow analysts time to review your request prior to contacting AAPC to inquire about approval
  • Approval time can range from 2 to 4 days processing depending on volume of requests
  • If you experience an unexpected change of meeting topic or speaker, follow these steps
  • Edit the event online
  • Email AAPC at r call the CEU Vendor department to inform them of the change and the circumstances surrounding the change
  • If the change occurs after hours, contact the CEU Vendor department at 800-626-2633 ext 115 and leave a message. Someone will contact you.

To check your event status please go to the Local Chapter CEU webpage prior to contacting AAPC. If the event you are looking for is not listed, the request may not have gone through, check with AAPC prior to submitting another request.

Editing an Event

If your event requires editing, go into the events page located under your Officer tab on the AAPC website. Located under the approved code, click the edit event link.

Select the section of the request requiring updates from the drop down menu next to the question: What information requires updating? Edit the information and click the Save & Update button.

The following edits require approval from the CEU Vendor Department:

  1. Title
  2. Speaker information
  3. Start Date and Time
  4. Finish Date and Time
  5. Detailed Program Goal
  6. Level of the course
  7. Specialty Information
  8. Total Education Time
  9. Any Attachments

The following edits do not require approval and will take effect immediately:

  1. RSVP fields
  2. Name, Phone, and Email
  3. Event Location Information
  4. Location Name, Address, City, Zip, State, Postal Code, and Directions
  5. Email Notification

Communication with AAPC

Local Chapter Officers are expected to respond to communications sent by AAPC in a timely and professional fashion. Communication regarding missing or required information for event approval is expected within 2 weeks of initial request by AAPC.

Non-communication of 2 weeks after initial communication from AAPC will result in denial of event request. Resubmission must include missing required information.

If you are questioning the denial of whole or part of your requested event, contact the CEU Vendor Department via email or phone with enough detail that supports your claim for re-evaluation. Do not re-apply without contacting AAPC as this could result in a similar denial.

Presenters

Presenters scheduled to present at Local Chapter meetings must have one of the following:

  • A credential (e.g., CPC®, CPC-H®, CPC-P®, RN, MD, CCS-P, JD) or professional license relevant to the subject matter
  • CPC-As are allowed to present and receive CEUs for their presentation, however they will not qualify for specialty approval
  • Experience in the subject matter to be discussed (personal or professional knowledge)

*This information is requiredwith event request submission.

Presenters: Report CEUs in the CEU Tracker using the same certificate and index# as attendees, an index number can be submitted only once. AAPC does not award CEUs for time spent in preparation.

Event titles

Make sure your event titles are pertinent to the education that will be provided. Please ensure that your titles are professional and appropriate tobe viewed online by our entire membership. Sessions titled “TBA or TBD” will not be accepted and will result in a denial.

If you are utilizing AAPC materials for your event the title of the event must state AAPC then the exact title as printed on the slide show. If the material is recorded, use the speaker on the recording as the presenter,not a chapter officer or member.

Types of CEUs

Two types of CEUs are awarded at AAPC. Core A focuses on the technical side of professional medical coding, while Core B addresses general business skills related to the healthcare field. Coders may claim all of their CEUs earned from Core A. Core B can comprise no more than 33% (1/3) of the total CEUs earned per year. Therefore, if one core credential is held, 12 of the 36 CEUs due every two years may be from Core B. Please visit the CEU Information-Members page for further details. (

Specialty Approvals

In order to qualify for specialty approval sufficient information must be provided with your request to support assigning specialties. This information should be entered in the detailed goals portion of the application. Simply because the presenter holds that credential or that credential is common among the chapter does not automatically mean that approval will be given. All education must be presented at an intermediate or advanced level of expertise, anything that is considered too broad or basic will be denied specialty approval.

Meeting Content

Overview of Approvable Content: Only program content applicable to the coding profession with current year information is eligible for CEUs. CEUs awarded by AAPC do not guarantee accuracy or quality of curriculum. The principal focus of curriculum considered for CEUs is its educational value and a time element.

AAPC National Conference Session and Review:Local Chapters may not use national conference printed materials, recordings, or presentation PowerPoint slides without the written permission from the presenter and AAPC.

Conference attendees may give a review of what they learned at conference for other chapter members. They may not use the conference presentations without the written permission from the presenter and AAPC.

Movies/TV Shows:Meetings where the content will be a movie can be approved if the movie contains educational content. Additional information may be requested to validate educational content of the movie. Time spent watching a TV show will not be awarded CEUs, however the time spent coding the procedures is approvable. The specific amount of time spent coding the procedures must be separate from the time watching the show.

Games: Chapters are allowed to do (1) one meeting per year composed of coding games, as long as the games are coding related with clear educational benefits. Word searches, Family Feud type games will not be approved. (No take home quizzes)

CodingEdge Magazine and Tests: Going through CodingEdge magazines as a group is not acceptable for Local Chapter CEUs. CodingEdge magazines are intended for individual member use only and doing the tests together in a meeting session would not be appropriate.

Core B Material

AAPC Website Reviews:Chapters are allowed to do (1) one hour website review per year. The CEUs will be awarded Core B status.

Motivational Speakers:An outline is required for all motivational speaker sessions to determine approvability of the session. Core B CEUs may be approved.

Local Chapter Handbook Reviews: Time spent reviewing the Local Chapter Handbook will be allowed Core B CEUs. Chapters are allowed to do (1) one session per year.

Officers Roles and Responsibilities:Chapters can hold a (1) one hour Roles and Responsibilities meeting before officer elections in the fall. These sessions are to inform members about the Roles and Responsibilities of being a local chapter officer.

Ineligible Content/Time:
  • Registrations/ welcomes
  • Introductions
  • Networking
  • Non-educational activities such as breaks, lunches, and networking lunches
  • Time spent taking quizzes or post-tests are not eligible for CEUs.

When submitting event requests do not include any of the above listed items in your CEU education time; it is expected that chapter meetings will require time for handling chapter business or networking, which includes giving awards and recognition. This does not constitute education time.

Review Classes

Instructors of Review Classes must be certified and are allowed to be from a different chapter.

Review classes should cover information to assist members prepare to sit for the exam. Test taking tips are allowed as part of the review class. CPMA & CIRCC review classes are not allowed in the Local Chapter setting.

Study guides are available to Local Chapters at a discounted rate for use during review classes.

Agenda’s must be provided at the time of event request submission. The agenda should include a breakdown of the day.

For Example:

7:45 – 8:00 Registration & Introduction

8:00 – 10:30 Medical Terminology/Anatomy/ICD-9 CM Coding rules and guidelines (Reference Study Guide)

10:30 – 11:00 Break

11:00 – 12:30 E/M Coding, CPT-4 Coding (Review Chapters 1-17, using CPT Study Guide) HCPCS

12:30 – 2:00 Coding Exercises

2:00 Adjourn

ICD-10 Content

Approvals that address ICD-10 Implementation will be awarded Core B CEUs. ICD-10 Guidelines and Code Set Training will be awarded Core A CEUs. Any event, presentation, publication, etc…that pertains to ICD-10 must be submitted in its entirety for review to the CEU Vendor Department. Any trainings provided by AHIMA certified ICD-10 trainers using materials from AHIMA’s Train the Trainer program would not be accepted or approved.

Please Note: Per AHIMA guidelines for ICD-10 Academy-certified trainers –Trainers may not remove AHIMA copyright notice or otherwise re-brand slides. You may not modify AHIMA copyrighted slides. You may add your own material to the deck. If you add your own material, please remove AHIMA credit line from your added content.

Fees

Registration fees should cover the cost of producing the event with reasonable profit.

Local Chapters and Outside Vendors

Presenting at Local Chapter Meetings: Approved vendors are allowed to present at AAPC Local Chapter meetings at the discretion of the current chapter officers. Local Chapter education CEUs are awarded for education-not for product or presenter promotion. Chapter officers should be sure to limit presentations to educational topics only. Vendor presentations with existing CEU approvals are not valid for CEUs for chapter meetings. Chapter officers must request approval from AAPC’s Vendor Department.

Solicitation and Local Chapter Contact Guidelines: Solicitation of local chapters and local chapter officers is strictly prohibited. AAPC Local Chapters do not become affiliates with any other organizations; they do not resell products for vendors. Chapter officers do not promote Vendor events or products; do not feel obligated to talk to vendors or to allow them into your meetings even for ‘a minute of chapter time’. You can have them leave their business card and flyers near the entry of the meeting place but not inside the meeting room itself. Members can then pick them up at their discretion. It is not allowed for a Vendor to use their vendor status as a tool to infiltrate AAPC Local Chapters. We approve educational content, not a company or organization.

Co-sponsoring Events with Vendors: If you decide to co-sponsor an event with an outside vendor, make sure that all registrations and the funds are made out to the chapter. You can share the proceeds with the vendor but be sure that all aspects of the event are approved by both the chapter and the vendor before advertising begins. If you have questions or would like help deciding if a vendor is appropriate to work with please contact AAPC at .

If you have repeated issues with Vendors contact the AAPC CEU Vendor Department at so that the issue can be addressed.

Unacceptable Meeting Behavior

  • Misrepresentation by the presenter of programs, credentials, or intent
  • False or misleading information by the sponsoring organization or presenter
  • Discrimination by the Local Chapter or presenter against race, creed, religion, and/or gender
  • Representation by the Local Chapter or presenter of AAPC and/or members in a negative manner
  • Negative or adversarial remarks against payers or providers by the sponsoring organization or presenter
  • Foul or vulgar language will not be tolerated and visual aids shall be free of inappropriate content or pictures per subject matter
  • Using the approved time to promote products, services, or software for commercial or financial gain
  • Presenting biased information that is largely about another organization’s credentials or their requirements

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