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In the February 2015 Issue
From the President
CAAHEP 2015 Annual Meeting
Change is Coming
CAAHEP Website a Resource for Professions and Programs
Reminder: CAAHEP Fee Increase
Accreditation Actions

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CAAHEP Board of Directors Meeting Schedule
The CAAHEP Board of Directors takes accreditation actions six times per year (Jan., Mar., May, Jul., Sept., and Nov.). The following are upcoming meeting dates and locations (where appropriate):


March 20, 2015
Conference Call

May 15, 2015
Conference Call

July 15-16, 2015
New Orleans, LA

September 18, 2015
Conference Call

November 20, 2015
Conference Call

 


2015 CAAHEP Annual Meeting

"Partnering to Achieve Quality Outcomes"

April 19-20, 2015
 Intercontinental Kansas City
at the Plaza
Kansas City, MO  

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From the President
Thomas Skalko

 

2015 Already!

 

2014 has flown by and what a busy year it was. CAAHEP embarked on several initiatives that respond to the needs of the organization. In addition, the year brought with it a number of challenges for CAAHEP and our Committees on Accreditation (CoAs.) 

 

Strategic Planning:  Among our first initiatives was the decision by CAAHEP to engage in a formal strategic planning process. In August, a Request for Proposals was distributed to seek a strategic planning facilitator.  Following a review, CAAHEP selected the Center for Transformation and Innovation (CTI).  CTI has contacted and interfaced with the individual board members and was present at the January meeting.  The process will extend through a special meeting of the Board of Directors in April with the development of a draft plan to be finalized by the Board in July.

 

Standards Specialist:  A second initiative taken by the CAAHEP Board was the creation of a consulting position for a Standards Specialist. As many of you know, Dr. Bill Goding has, on a volunteer basis, chaired the Standards Committee and assisted CAAHEP and the CoAs in the standards review and revision process for many years. The demands have continued to grow beyond the capacity of even the most dedicated volunteer. (Our heartfelt thanks go out to Bill for his years of service to the CAAHEP Standards Committee.) To respond to the increased demands, a Standards Specialist position was created so that CAAHEP could better respond to the increasing demands for the review of standards of the Committees on Accreditation. To assist the Executive Director in the review process, a selection committee was established.

 

The applicant review phase began in January 2015. CAAHEP received over 35 applicants for the position. The list has been narrowed down to a short list of potential candidates. Interviews are currently being conducted and a finalist will soon be announced.

 

Challenges

Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) Requirements:  As you all should be aware (See earlier notifications to all CAAHEP Commissioners), there has been increased pressure for greater transparency in all aspects of accreditation, both CHEA and the U.S. Department of Education have imposed requirements on the accrediting bodies that they recognize (CAAHEP is CHEA-recognized). The CHEA criteria (adopted in 2010, after CAAHEP had gone through its last review) require that all accrediting bodies assure that their accredited institutions/programs are making outcomes information available to the public. This necessitated a change in all CAAHEP Standards and will require that CAAHEP work with all of our Committees on Accreditation (CoA) to meet the intent of the standards changes, the development of proposed guidelines for CoAs, and a plan for implementation. The CAAHEP standards template includes new language under the Fair Practices section of the standards.  As distributed in the January 2015 CAAHEP Commissioners News, the section indicates: 

 

"The sponsor must maintain, and make available to the public, current and consistent summary information about student/graduate achievement that includes the results of one or more of the outcomes assessments required in these Standards.


 

The sponsor should develop a suitable means of communicating to the communities of interest the achievement of students/graduates (e.g. through a website or electronic or printed documents)."

 

The Committees on Accreditation are working on putting policies into place. CAAHEP has provided the CoAs sample policy language that they can use or edit as needed. This new Standard and policies will be reported to CHEA in CAAHEP's interim report due in October.

 

Addressing CoA Needs:  Increasingly, CAAHEP is challenged with meeting the needs of all of our CoAs. This includes the needs of young, developing CoAs, as well as our more established CoAs. As we continue to grow (having approved 2 new CoAs and 2 new professions in the past year), we are challenged with ensuring that CAAHEP meets the needs of these new CoAs while we also respond to the challenges presented to our existing CoAs. It is our goal to ensure that we meet the needs of all our CoAs and work to keep CAAHEP as the "Gold Standard" in allied health programmatic accreditation.

 

In closing, please let us know how we can be of assistance to you, our stakeholders.  Looking forward to an active 2015.

 

Thom Skalko, Ph.D., LRT/CTRS, FDRT

President, CAAHEP

CAAHEP 2015 Annual Meeting


The agenda is in place for the 2015 CAAHEP Annual Meeting and registration is

 open. This year, the Annual Meeting will be held at the Intercontinental Plaza Hotel in  Kansas City, Missouri, April 19-20. The theme this year is "Partnering to Achieve Quality Outcomes." Our keynote speaker Anthony J. Silvagni, DO, PharmD, MSc, FACOFP, FAFPE, Dean, NOVA Southeastern University, College of Osteopathic Medicine, will present "Achieving Positive Patient Outcomes Throughout the Life Cycle Within the Context of the Medical Home." 

 

In addition to the Commission's Annual Business Meeting, the agenda is chock-full of interesting topics including: 

  • "Getting it Off the Shelf: How to Use Your Practice Analysis to Create Best Practices Across Your Profession" 
  • Federal Update - New Congress, same Administration"
  • "A brief update on H2P Outcomes" 
  • "Speed Dating for Commissioners" - Connect with your fellow Commissioners and learn what the predominant issues are. This session is for Commissioners only - questions that might be discussed will be emailed in advance. 
  • "Questions and Answers with representatives from CoAs" (for program directors, faculty, deans) A chance to meet with leaders of the Committees on Accreditation for: Surgical Technology, Medical Assisting, Diagnostic Medical Sonography and Emergency Medical Services Professions
  • "Spotlight on our Two Newest Professions" - Art Therapy and Assistive Technology
  • "Establishing a Simulation Center: It takes partnerships" 
  • "Preparing for the Silver Tsunami" 

There is a one-day registration option again this year for for those interests or schedule make the full conference not an option. One-Day and full registration, along with hotel information, is posted on the CAAHEP website.


 

Commissioners will be receiving the official Annual Business Meeting notice in early March. All are encouraged to register and make room reservations early. See you in Kansas City!

 

 

Change is Coming - No, Wait - It has Arrived!

Kathleen Megivern, JD, CAE, Executive Director

 

There has been a lot of talk from Congress, the Department of Education, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the media about the need for accreditation to become more "transparent" as well as the desire on the part of potential students and the public-at-large for more outcomes data in order to make better informed choices when it comes to selecting a college or a program. 

 

When you combine the "need to know" with the push to be more transparent, the result is pressure upon accrediting agencies to assure that their accredited institutions/programs are providing outcomes data to the public. In response to this trend, the CAAHEP Standards Committee proposed some changes to the Standards template used by all of our Committees on Accreditation.  Those changes were posted on the CAAHEP website for feedback and the final version was approved by the Board. The next step was to incorporate that new language into every set of CAAHEP Standards. The Board voted to do so at their January meeting.

 

So, no matter what the profession, you will now see the language (referenced above in the President's column) in the Fair Practices section (Section V.A.) of all CAAHEP Standards.

 

Each Committee on Accreditation is being asked to develop a policy that will assist programs in their profession to comply with this language. Most will specify which outcome(s) need to be published (whatever is deemed appropriate for that profession). If you have questions about what your program will have to do, contact the specific Committee on Accreditation which reviews your program.

 

None of this should come as a surprise to institutions of higher education. Most are already doing this sort of disclosure in one form or another. It will take some time for CAAHEP to "catch up" with the requirement in the recognition criteria imposed by CHEA, but we are committed to doing so as quickly as is possible.

 

CAAHEP Website a Resource for Professions and Programs


CAAHEP's website is a well-used resource for potential students to learn about the professions in which CAAHEP accredits programs and it provides direct links to the programs that are CAAHEP accredited. How do we know? CAAHEP keeps track of how many times professions are searched through the online "Find an Accredited Program" feature on the CAAHEP website. The search totals for 2014 show that more than 1.6 million searches were conducted through the CAAHEP website.  The following chart shows the number of searches by profession. Please note, some of CAAHEP's newer professions that have not yet developed Standards and do not have accredited programs have not been added to the database that collects this information. Once Standards are approved for these professions, they will be added to the database.

CAAHEP 2014 Website Profession Searches

(Jan-Dec 2014)

 

Profession
Total Search Count by Profession
Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography
 83,234
Anesthesia Technology
49,685
Anesthesiologist Assistant
73,543
Cardiovascular Technology 
 79,950
Cytotechnology
22,137
Diagnostic Medical Sonography
607,836
Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic
 80,316
Exercise Physiology
14,814
Exercise Science
15,882
Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring 
17,952
Kinesiotherapy
14,096
Lactation Consultant
21,305
Medical Assisting
174,227
Medical Illustrator
9,504
Neurodiagnostic Technology
36,020
Orthotic and Prosthetic Technician
11,282
Orthotist/Prosthetist
11,140
Perfusion
39,205
Personal Fitness Training
9,221
Polysomnographic Technology
31,232
Recreational Therapy
11,372
Specialist Blood Bank Technology/Transfusion Medicine
10,402
Surgical Assisting
86,810
Surgical Technology
98,043
Total Number of Searches in 2014
1,609,208


 

Reminder: CAAHEP Fees to Increase

In early December 2014, CAAHEP sent the following important message to all sponsoring institutions with one or more CAAHEP accredited programs:

During its November 21, 2014 meeting, the CAAHEP Board of Directors approved an increase in its institutional fee effective for the year that begins July 1, 2016. The . The fee will be raised from $450 per year to $550 per year. This is the fee paid by every institution that sponsors one or more CAAHEP-accredited programs.

 

"CAAHEP has worked hard to keep our expenses down and avoid a fee increase to our sponsoring institutions." said Thomas Skalko, PhD, LRT/CTRS, CAAHEP President. "It has been more than 15 years since the last time CAAHEP raised its institutional fee. The Board was extremely conscientious to keep the increase to the minimum necessary to continue to provide accreditation services to our accredited programs." 

 

Kathleen Megivern, JD, CAE, Executive Director, said, "The increase in institutional fees will not take place until July 1, 2016, so that our educational institutions will have adequate time to budget for the increase no matter when their fiscal year begins. Programs and institutions will receive notices throughout the coming year as reminders to prepare for the new fee structure."

 

Any educational institution or CAAHEP accredited program with questions on the new institutional fee should contact the CAAHEP office for assistance. 

Accreditation Actions


January 15, 2015 Accreditation Actions

Each profession in the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) system has a Committee on Accreditation (CoA) that consists of experts in the profession that are responsible for reviewing programs and making appropriate recommendations for accreditation to CAAHEP.  CAAHEP reviews recommendations received from its CoAs in each profession, assures due process was followed, and takes final action on an accreditation status.

CAAHEP took the following actions at its January 15, 2015 meeting. Actions are identified by profession, action taken, and date of the next comprehensive evaluation. In some cases, the concentration and/or degree are also specified.


The following programs were found to be in compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines and were granted continuing accreditation, with the next comprehensive evaluation to occur no later than 2019. These actions require no progress report and were approved on the consent agenda.


Cardiovascular Technology

Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences, Lancaster, PA (Cardiac Electrophysiology, Associate)


Medical Assisting

College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL (Certificate)

MedTech College-Greenwood, Greenwood, IN (Associate)

Nash Community College, Rocky Mount, NC (Diploma)

National American University-Missouri, Independence, MO (Associate)

National College-Bartlett, Bartlett, TN (Associate)

National College-Stow, Stow, OH (Associate)

National College-Youngstown, Youngstown, OH (Associate)

West Virginia Northern Community College, Wheeling, WV (Associate)


The following programs were found to be in compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines and were granted continuing accreditation, with the next comprehensive evaluation to occur no later than 2020. These actions require no progress report and were approved on the consent agenda.


Diagnostic Medical Sonography

Argosy University, Eagan, MN (General)

Argosy University, Eagan, MN (Cardiac)

Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Carbondale, IL (General)


Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic

Hinds Community College-Jackson, Jackson, MS


The following programs were found to be in compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines and were granted continuing accreditation, with the next comprehensive evaluation to occur no later than 2025. These actions require no progress report and were approved on the consent agenda.


Diagnostic Medical Sonography

Rush University, Chicago, IL (Vascular)


 

Polysomnographic Technology

Pitt Community College, Greenville, NC (Associate)

Pitt Community College, Greenville, NC (Certificate)


The following programs were found to be in substantial compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines, with one or more Standards requiring a progress report to be submitted to the appropriate Committee on Accreditation (CoA).  The programs were granted continuing accreditation, with the next comprehensive evaluation to occur no later than 2016.


Exercise Science

Kent State University, Kent, OH


The following programs were found to be in substantial compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines, with one or more Standards requiring a progress report to be submitted to the appropriate Committee on Accreditation (CoA).  The programs were granted continuing accreditation, with the next comprehensive evaluation to occur no later than 2020.


Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic

National EMS Academy/South Louisiana Community College, Lafayette, LA


The following programs were found to be in substantial compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines, with one or more Standards requiring a progress report to be submitted to the appropriate Committee on Accreditation (CoA).  The programs were granted continuing accreditation, with the next comprehensive evaluation to occur no later than 2024.


Medical Assisting

Johnston Community College, Smithfield, NC (Diploma)


The following programs were found to be in substantial compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines, with one or more Standards requiring a progress report to be submitted to the appropriate Committee on Accreditation (CoA).  The programs were granted continuing accreditation, with the next comprehensive evaluation to occur no later than 2025.


Surgical Technology

Pinellas Technical College, St. Petersburg, FL


The following programs were found to be in compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines and were granted initial accreditation for a period not to exceed three (3) years. These actions require no progress report and were approved on the consent agenda.


Orthotist/Prosthetist

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

 

The following programs were found to be in compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines and were granted initial accreditation for a period not to exceed five (5) years. These actions require no progress report and were approved on the consent agenda.


Diagnostic Medical Sonography

Armstrong State University, Savannah, GA (General)

Baton Rouge Community College, Baton Rouge, LA (General)

Keiser University-Fort Myers, Fort Myers, FL (General)

Piedmont Virginia Community College, Charlottesville, VA (General)


Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic

Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, OH

Macomb Community College, Clinton Township, MI

National Medical Education and Training Center/Medtech College Consortia, West Bridgewater, MA

South Florida State College, Avon Park, FL

 

Exercise Physiology

University of Auckland, Glen Innes, Auckland, New Zealand (Clinical)


Surgical Technology

Virginia College-Savannah, Savannah, GA


The following programs were found to be in substantial compliance with the accreditation Standards and Guidelines, with one or more Standards requiring a progress report to be submitted to the appropriate Committee on Accreditation (CoA).  The programs were granted initial accreditation for a period not to exceed five (5) years.


Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic

Central Arizona College, Apache Junction, AZ

Dyersburg State Community College, Dyersburg, TN

East Central College, Union, MO

Erie Community College, Williamsville, NY

Iowa Western Community College, Council Bluffs, IA

Ivy Tech Community College-Richmond, Richmond, IN

Miami Valley Career Technology Center, Clayton, OH

Mid-State Technical College, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Moraine Park Technical College, Fond Du Lac, WI

Morris Hospital and Healthcare Centers, Morris, IL

Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, OK

Owensboro Community and Technical College, Owensboro, KY

Parkland College, Champaign, IL

Patrick Henry Community College, Martinsville, VA

Presence Saint Joseph Hospital, Elgin, IL

Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, OH

Southern Crescent Technical College, Griffin, GA

Southwestern Illinois College, Belleville, IL

Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, OR

Univ of Missouri Health Care EMS Institute, Columbia, MO

University of Alaska-Anchorage Matanuska Susitna College, Palmer, AK

Vanguard-Sentinel Career & Technology Center, Fremont, OH

Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL

Wayne County Community College District, Detroit, MI


Recreational Therapy

Oklahoma State University-Stillwater, Stillwater, OK

University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH

 


The following programs were placed on probationary accreditation, with one or more Standards requiring critical attention and timely resolution to bring the program into compliance with the Standards and Guidelines. The letter outlining the reason(s) for probation is available upon request.


Diagnostic Medical Sonography

Jefferson Community and Technical College, Louisville, KY (General)


Medical Assisting

Latter Day Saints Business College, Salt Lake City, UT (Certificate)

Tri-County Community College, Murphy, NC (Associate)

 

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