East Providence, RI—The American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) recently received Joint Accreditation with Commendation, the highest level of accreditation offered by the collaboration of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Accreditation Program (ANCC).
“AAAP is proud that our team’s efforts have resulted in AAAP achieving Joint Accreditation with Commendation,” said AAAP President John Mariani, MD. “Education for the team by the team is vitally important to help ensure patients with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric conditions receive the highest quality care and compassionate support. It takes a team to care for patients and to educate those who are supporting them. AAAP is committed to continuing our work to ensure that our CE program meets the needs of our learners, helps them improve their performance, and positively impacts the patients and communities they serve.”
Through Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education™, AAAP can offer continuing education activities for multiple professions through a single application process and shared set of accreditation standards. Interprofessional Continuing Education focuses on education for the health care team by the health care team. AAAP’s interprofessional education reaches multiple professions, including physicians in varying specialties, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, nurses, psychologists and social workers as well as non-clinical professionals supporting the work of the health care team.
Only 174 organizations in the United States are currently Joint Accredited and only 33 have “Joint Accreditation with Commendation.” Joint Accreditation with Commendation is only awarded to providers who demonstrate compliance in all required criteria AND additional criteria aimed at elevating CE for the health care team and demonstrating the impact of their CE program on the health care team’s performance and the patients they serve.
“Receiving Joint Accreditation with Commendation is a testament of AAAP’s commitment to providing evidence-based trainings for not only our members but to all clinicians interested in learning more about treating substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric disorders,” said AAAP CEO Kathryn Cates-Wessel.
By receiving Joint Accreditation with Commendation, AAAP demonstrated that AAAP:
- Offers high quality, impactful and independent CE for the health care team caring for people with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric disorders.
- Delivers CE activities that are effectively designed and have changed the health care team’s abilities and performance.
- Supports its own CE team through continuing professional development opportunities and resources
- Engages in scholarship and research related to AAAP’s IPCE program
- Integrates the use of health and practice data into the planning and presentation of its accredited CE
- Identifies and addresses factors beyond clinical care that affect the health of patients and integrates content on these factors in accredited IPCE and CE
- Collaborates with other organizations to address population health issues
- Demonstrates that its IPCE program improved not only the performance of the team but also community and patient health
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) is a national professional organization for Addiction Psychiatrists, physicians and allied health professionals dedicated to providing evidence-based practices in the education, training, research and policy in the field of substance use disorders and co-occurring mental disorders. Visit aaap.org for more information.
