The goal of Continuing Medical Education at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE) is to support the continuous professional development of physicians outlined by the ABMS Maintenance of Certification^TM program by identifying performance and knowledge gaps and developing educational interventions that alleviate deficiencies in the knowledge base and/or the quality of care rendered by the professional physician. In addition, we work to:

• Evaluate the effectiveness of educational activities through the use of needs surveys, pre- and post-tests, post-activity evaluations, follow-up surveys, and quality improvement data to plan future educational interventions that meet the needs of the professionals involved.
• Assist practicing physicians in maintaining ACGME core competencies in their chosen fields by strengthening the habits, learning processes, critical inquiry, and balanced judgments that are the hallmark of the professional and committed physician.

Confidentiality Policy

It is the intention of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary Institute for Continuing Medical Education (ICME) to maintain the confidentiality of any physician or healthcare provider information obtained or utilized by the CME program in the course of registration for CME activities, participation as faculty, preparation and release of transcripts of activities for which credit has been earned, or any other ICME program function that involves confidential information. Such confidential information includes physician mailing address, Social Security number, and record of credit hours earned. Accordingly, all such confidential information will be retained in a secure electronic data base and filing system, never displayed where it may be observed or recorded, and be released individually only upon receipt of written authorization from the party requesting their own information.

Privacy Policy

It is the policy of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary Institute for Continuing Medical Education (ICME) to maintain the privacy of patients’ Protected Health Information (PHI) and to abide by all state and federal privacy laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). PHI should not be included in CME presentations unless specific authorization has been obtained from the patient in a manner consistent with HIPAA. Of specific concern to CME providers are situations where PHI might appear in a presenter’s written educational materials or audio/visual materials. For example, information attributable to a specific patient might be included in a written case study or verbal discussion of a case or might appear in a visual presentation such as an x-ray or similar diagnostic image or test where patient identifiers have not been removed. Accordingly, PHI may not be present in any aspect of an educational presentation without a patient’s written authorization (and such authorization must be HIPAA compliant after April 14, 2003).