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Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education Expands to Include American Dental Association’s Continuing Education Recognition Program

December 16, 2019

New Collaboration Increases Opportunities for Dentists to Participate in Continuing Healthcare Education for the Team, by the Team

Chicago, IL

December 16, 2019

Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education is pleased to announce a new collaboration with the American Dental Association’s Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP®). The new collaboration aims to increase opportunities for dentists to participate in continuing healthcare education for the team, by the team.

Joint Accreditation and ADA CERP share a commitment to leveraging the power of education to help clinicians to deliver optimal healthcare for all. This new collaboration will support educators in delivering high-quality, effective interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) that improves team collaboration and patient care.

Healthcare is delivered in teams and teams need to learn together. To facilitate team education, Joint Accreditation offers organizations the opportunity to be simultaneously accredited to provide continuing education and IPCE credit for multiple health professions through a unified accreditation process and set of accreditation standards. With the expansion of Joint Accreditation, jointly accredited organizations have the option to include dentists in their education programs, without needing to attain a separate accreditation with ADA CERP. Joint Accreditation now includes eight continuing education accreditors, representing the professions of dentistry, medicine, nursing, optometry, PAs (physician assistants), pharmacy, psychology, and social work.

“The ADA’s Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition is pleased to strategically collaborate with Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education. The collaboration between ADA CERP and Joint Accreditation, and development of IPCE activities that include dental professionals as part of the interprofessional healthcare team, will help support improvements in oral health and overall healthcare. By encouraging opportunities for educating a more diverse and complete healthcare team, we work together towards improved public health,” said Susan Reed, DDS, MPH, DrPH, Chair, Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition (CCEPR). CCEPR is the ADA agency that oversees ADA CERP.

“We celebrate our collaboration with our colleague accreditor, ADA CERP, because it recognizes the importance of oral health and the vital contributions of dentists to improving team care. With IPCE, all voices are heardand this collaboration empowers educators to expand the diversity of their IPCE programs to better meet the needs of their learners and the patients we all serve,” said Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, President and CEO, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®). The ACCME is a co-founder of Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education.

“As accreditors, our goal is to promote education that enables healthcare professionals to deliver optimal care in an increasingly complex and challenging environment. As a result of our collaboration with ADA CERP, jointly accredited organizations can bring more professions together to learn from, about, and with each other, with the common goal of building stronger, more inclusive teams,” said Janet P. Engle, PharmD, PhD (HON), FAPhA, FCCP, FNAP, Executive Director, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). The ACPE is a co-founder of Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education.

“Research demonstrates that participation in interprofessional continuing education makes a substantial difference to healthcare teams and the patients they serve. We welcome our colleague accreditor, ADA CERP, to our Joint Accreditation team and look forward to working together to continue to advance healthcare education by the team, for the team,” said Kathy Chappell, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN, Senior Vice President of Accreditation, Certification, Measurement, Quality, and the Institute for Credentialing Research, American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). The ANCC is a co-founder of Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education.

Joint Accreditation Media Inquiries

Tamar Hosansky
312-245-4066
[email protected]

ADA Media Inquiries

Michael Bittner
312-440-2806
[email protected]

ADA CERP

Established in 1993, the American Dental Association Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP) is managed by the Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition (see CCEPR Membership). Through an application and review process, the Commission evaluates and recognizes institutions and organizations that provide continuing dental education. ADA CERP also provides dental regulatory agencies with a sound basis for uniform acceptance of CE credits that are mandated by licensing jurisdictions in the United States for maintenance of dental licensure. Of the U.S. licensing jurisdictions that have currently implemented CE requirements for licensure renewal of dentists and allied staff, all accept the credits offered by ADA CERP recognized providers toward these requirements. However, each licensing jurisdiction may have additional criteria that must be met.

Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education

Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing EducationTM offers organizations the opportunity to be simultaneously accredited to provide continuing education activities for multiple health professions through a single, unified application process, fee structure, and set of accreditation standards. Jointly accredited providers may award single profession or interprofessional continuing education credit (IPCE) to participating professions without needing to obtain separate accreditations. Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education is the first and only process in the world offering this benefit.

Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education is a collaboration of the following organizations:

  • Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)
  • Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)
  • American Dental Association’s Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP)
  • American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
  • American Academy of PAs (AAPA)
  • Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry’s Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (ARBO/COPE)
  • American Psychological Association (APA)
  • Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)

For more information, visit www.jointaccreditation.org.