AIA CES Provider Quality Assurance Audit Guide 2014

Transcription

1 AIA CES Provider Quality Assurance Audit Guide 2014 CES Quality Assurance Audits 1

2 What exactly is an Audit? Why does CES perform Audits? The mission of the AIA CES Quality Assurance Audit is to identify and promote honest, efficient, effective and fully accountable CES Providers. The program is designed to help Providers accomplish their objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve their effectiveness in the areas of administration, delivery, content development and promotion. The AIA CES strives to: Determine whether the Provider is meeting the administrative standards, Ensure timely course submission and attendance reporting for AIA members, Determine the accuracy of the Provider s activities as it relates to the content of the continuing education courses, Determine if the Provider s delivery of continuing educational courses complies with AIA CES policies and procedures, Determine the honesty and accuracy of promotional materials and Recommend necessary improvements in each of the above areas. Audit Defined An AIA CES audit is a planned, independent, and documented assessment to determine whether agreed upon Approved Provider requirements are being met and will continue to be met. AIA CES Audits are used to evaluate or verify Approved Provider activities and approved course compliance. AIA CES audits can be announced or unannounced based on the sole discretion of the AIA. Reasons for Audits All AIA CES Registered Providers agree to quality checks by AIA CES. The goal of AIA CES is to audit or monitor all Providers. Several Providers will be audited each year. Providers to be audited may be chosen by: 1. Random selection; 2. When a complaint has reached AIA CES staff; 3. By request of a state licensing board who may ask for a quality assurance audit; or 4. By request of a Continuing Education Committee member. The State s Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE) requirement, in order to maintain a license, increases each year. The AIA and state licensing boards work closely to identify ways to ensure that the quality and integrity of approved continuing education courses are maintained. AIA CES must CES Quality Assurance Audits 2

3 therefore, provide assurance to the states that the CES Registered Providers offer quality continuing education courses. AIA CES efforts to ensure the continuing education content and soundness of the courses, whether proactive or reactive, are what are referred to as quality assurance. All Provider procedures, policies, and quality assurance guidelines are located in the CES Provider Manual and on CES Discovery under the Resources tab. Below are some key Quality Red Flags that may cause a Provider or course to be audited: Product endorsement (demonstrations or sales presentations) offering CES credit Company or product identification during the education portion of a program session Unregistered or incorrectly registered programs Failure to report AIA member attendance within 10 business days Failure to issue certificates to non-members and requesting members Misrepresentation of Learning Units to be awarded False or misleading advertisements Policy and procedure infractions Failure to get all speakers to sign the Speaker Agreement Failure to use course evaluations Failure to use the Quality Assurance slides Knowingly allowing non-providers to use your provider number Of course, the list above is not exhaustive, and any Provider may be audited at any time for any or no reason. Be proactive in following AIA CES approved provider policies. Compliance with the AIA CES Provider program requirements allows you to remain a Provider in good standing and builds your reputation as a leader in continuing education by allowing you to maintain the AIA CES approval. CES Quality Assurance Audits 3

4 AIA CES AUDIT PROCESS The purpose of the AIA CES s audit process is to identify and promote honest, efficient, effective and fully accountable Providers, and to ensure that AIA CES Providers comply with all AIA CES policies and procedures. Violations of AIA CES policies and procedures that may subject an AIA CES Provider to an audit include: Violating the course submission process, including late or incomplete submissions or including misleading or inaccurate information; Violating member submission process, including late reporting of member s credits and requesting members to self-report a registered course Failure to present a course as it was submitted, including proprietary information during the presentation, or unauthorized offering of HSW/SD credit Failure to complete post presentation documentation, including supplying and collecting evaluation forms from attendees; not assigning credits; and not sending certificates of attendance requested Poor course evaluations Inappropriate use of the AIA CES Provider number, such as allowing an unauthorized third party use Note, the AIA reserves the right to initiate audits randomly or otherwise at its sole discretion. As an AIA CES registered providers, you agree to participate fully and completely in the audit process. Failure to comply with the audit process can result in suspension or termination of your AIA CES Provider status. If you are selected for an audit, you will be notified in writing, generally sent via . This correspondence informs the Provider that their course is being audited and will request specific items to be sent to AIA CES. The notification will also outline deadlines for submission of materials. Once materials are received, AIA CES will evaluate the Provider s materials and may request additional submissions. Once the review is complete AIA CES will contact the provider with the results. If you have any questions, please contact CES Provider Audits Manager Ramiro Solorzano, Assoc. AIA RamiroSolorzano@aia.org or call (202) CES Quality Assurance Audits 4

5 Policy and Procedural Violation Protocol First/Minor Offense: Compliance Warning Given via Outcome: Provider must attend required quality assurance/compliance training webinar. This could result in an audit. (Thereafter, failure to comply with policy and/or required training request moves Provider to offense # 2.) ***If the Provider complies with the requirements and does not commit another offense in the next 6 months, they will be removed from the offender/non-compliant list. Second/Red Flag Offense: Provider is notified via and writing and placed on the Non-Compliant Provider list for non-compliance and policy violation. This could result in an audit. Outcome: Provider is notified that they are being placed on Probation and could face a loss of Provider status. Third/Major Offense: Provider is deemed non-compliant and notified via and in writing. Outcome: Provider loses Approved Provider status for up to 6 months NOTE: Any repeat offenses may result in your Provider Status being suspended indefinitely. CES Quality Assurance Audits 5

6 Sample First/Minor Offenses: Late Attendance Reporting Using Paper Form B s and sending to Oklahoma No Speaker Agreement(s) for Presenter(s) Inappropriate use of CES logo (1 st time) No course evaluation given Certificates not issued in a timely manner Sample Second/Red Flag Offenses: Not using QA slides in course presentation Hosting a course prior to approval Inaccurate mandatory files and records Inaccurate educational time in accordance with LU approval Sample Third/Major Offenses: Allowing others to use your Provider Number Repeat Violations CES Quality Assurance Audits 6