Annual Summary of Activities Guidelines
Rules and Guidelines for Annual Summary of Activities (ASA)
and 3-year Professional Development Certificates
(effective March 1, 2009)
Contents:
Emeritus Fellows | Dates | Receipt of ASA forms/information | 3-year certificates
List of Fellows for audit | Audit documentation | Audit Review PDF copy
Emeritus Fellows
ASA and audit requirements are not applicable to Emeritus Fellows.
Dates
Only those dates marked with an asterisk (*) should be considered as fixed. However, parties involved should do their best to meet all deadlines.
Receipt of ASA forms/information
• Fellows will submit their ASA claims by February 28*. As of March 1, 2009*, these will be approved automatically, meaning that while Fellows should have the supporting documentation readily available, they are not required to send it in to Head Office (HO) by February 28, 2010.
• Hardcopy ASA forms will not be accepted as of March 1, 2010*: all ASA information will have to be submitted through the CSCC/CACB website.
• Acknowledgement of receipt of ASA information for the preceding year will be made through email from HO by March 30.
• HO will make 'snapshots' of the website's ASA database as of March 18 and April 1* in order to identify entries submitted by the deadlines.
• ASA claims received after February 28* will not be considered unless specifically requested by the Fellow. These claims must be submitted prior to March 31* and will be subject to a late fee of $50 as well as an audit. Those received after March 31* will not be considered, and the 3-year cycle period will begin anew. Reminder emails with this information will be sent by HO by March 15.
• If no claims for the preceding year are received by March 31*, the Fellow will be removed from the CACB list of "Fellows Having Completed MOC Requirements" published annually in the CSCC Handbook unless the Fellow already has a sufficient number of credits for the 3-year cycle or a special application is made to the MOC Chair.
• If satisfactory ASA performance has been documented for three successive years, a 3-year certificate will be issued by April 30 by HO prior to consultation with Maintenance of Competence (MOC) chair. The successful completion of any audits performed by the MOC subcommittee for this period is required.
• No certificate will be sent to a Fellow being audited, as will be indicated to HO by the MOC chair: the certificate may be printed, but may not be sent prior to successful completion of that Fellow's audit.
• HO will send the MOC Chair the following lists by April 7:
- All Fellows in Academy, including status (i.e. Emeritus, Founding, etc.)
- Fellows having completed ASA requirements for preceding year (including late submissions); claim information also to be provided.
- Fellows having completed ASA requirements for 3 successive years i.e. Fellows due for 3-year certificate
• The MOC Chair will then:
1) create a list of Fellows to be audited by April 15 and notify HO, who will send the MOC Chair any ASA forms and documentation received from those Fellows (by April 30*).
The audit list consists of 20-25 Fellows who have: 1) not been previously audited (chosen at random) or 2) failed the previous year's audit. The relatively large size of the audit list is intended to balance the uncontrolled 'honour system' of the ASA submission process. In the event of a randomly chosen Fellow not having submitted credits for that year (owing to already having a sufficient number for the 3-year cycle), the audit will be deferred to the following year.
2) review the received documentation (as well as items submitted to the website) and decide which Fellows have already submitted documentation sufficient for auditing purposes.
3) send out audit letters (or emails) to the remaining Fellows by May 15*, in each case requesting an email response to confirm receipt.
4) notify HO which Fellows, who would otherwise be eligible for a 3-year certificate, are being audited and are not to receive a certificate until HO is notified by the MOC Chair.
• Copies of all supporting information for the audit is to be sent directly to and received by the MOC Chair by June 30*. Documents received after this date will not be considered and that Fellow's audit will automatically be considered unsuccessful. An email to this effect will be sent by July 15. In the event of exceptional circumstances preventing the timely completion of the audit, the MOC Chair must be notified prior to June 30*.
• Supporting documentation will not be returned to the Fellow; consequently, only copies (rather than originals) should be sent.
• Fellows are advised to carefully read the directions posted on the CSCC/CACB website first in order to understand that very little paperwork is required in most cases.
• The audit review committee will consist of the MOC Chair and at least one other member of the CACB Board. At least one committee member will be fluent in each of the official languages.
• The audit review committee will compare the ASA claims and documents against the requirements posted on the CSCC/CACB website to reach a verdict on the status of an audit.
• A successful audit will result in no audits for that Fellow for at least two years; an unsuccessful audit will automatically add that Fellow to the audit list for the next year.
• Two consecutive unsuccessful audits will remove the Fellow from the CACB list of "Fellows Having Completed MOC Requirements" published annually in the CSCC handbook.
• Where applicable, a 3-year certificate may be issued to Fellows who have passed the audit provided that this is not a repeat audit. In that case, only the successfully audited year will apply towards the certificate i.e. two more years' ASA submissions are required.
Jan Palaty
Chair, Maintenance of Competence Subcommittee
Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry
June 22, 2009
