AANS Joint Sponsorship Guidelines
GENERAL FAQs
If my organization would like to offer a joint sponsored activity, when should I contact AANS education staff?
AANS education staff must be contacted as near to the beginning of the planning stages for your educational activity as possible. The AANS joint sponsorship application must be submitted 6-12 months prior to your activity date. The organization must be able to meet all AANS Joint Sponsorship Requirements for their activity to be considered for AANS joint sponsorship.
Is there a fee to joint sponsor an educational activity?
Yes. There is a non-refundable joint sponsorship application fee along with other fees associated with the joint sponsorship process.
What is the responsibility of the AANS education staff for joint sponsoring an educational activity?
The AANS education staff representative is available to your organization and the appointed physician CME contact to ensure compliance with all ACCME requirements and policies. Among other things, this involves reviewing the joint sponsorship application and supporting documentation; meticulously reviewing the agenda to determine that all content meets the definition of CME and to determine the amount of CME credit for your activity; reviewing and signing Letters of Agreement (LOAs) for commercial support, if applicable, and ensuring that educational grant funds are being spent appropriately; reviewing all of your pre-printed material and ensuring that all required items are included and worded properly; and tracking the CME earned by your neurosurgeon attendees and distributing CME certificates to them. In addition, staff monitors the evaluation results to ensure that no commercial bias was detected. If bias was detected, further follow-up is required. The AANS education staff has developed joint sponsorship guidelines and sample documents to help assist you with the joint sponsorship process. Meeting management functions, such as hotel logistics, tabulating the activity evaluations and obtaining faculty disclosures are the responsibility of the joint sponsored organization (not AANS). However, your organization may request these services for an additional fee(s).
How is the amount of credit for a joint sponsored activity determined?
One hour of medical education at the activity is equivalent to one AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
Credit is based on 15-minute increments (.25 credits) of medical education and is the smallest increment of time calculated for credit. Credit is not awarded for portions of your activity such as breaks and lunch. The AANS does not provide credit for viewing posters. However, physicians may claim AMA PRA Category 2 Credit™ for viewing scientific posters. Physicians should self-claim credit to the AMA on their AMA PRA certificate application form.
Does an AANS education staff member need to attend my educational activity?
At the discretion of the AANS, an AANS staff representative may be present at your meeting at your expense. Your organization will be required to reimburse expenses such as air and ground transportation, hotel accommodations and meals. Otherwise, unless specifically requested by your organization, AANS staff does not need to attend your activity.
In addition to the FAQs above, please also check the FAQs specifically for commercial support, exhibits, promotion and advertising as well as the Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations to answer other questions. For additional information, please contact the AANS staff representative assigned to your activity or for general questions contact Vanessa Spinnato at vls@aans.org or by phone at 847.378.0550.