First Look: New ASHA CE Standards Are Coming!

We’ve been working hard to refresh and update the Requirements for ASHA CE Provider Approval into the Standards for ASHA Approved CE Providers (ASHA CE Standards). Here is a preview of the work that’s being done and what you can expect.

What You Need to Know Now

We’ve not yet determined the date by which your organization needs to start following the ASHA CE Standards. We’ll give you plenty of notice before the new Standards go into effect. So, keep following the CEB Requirements for now.

We’ll also keep the lines of communication open, continuing to update you with all the information you need to prepare you for the implementation of the Standards. Don’t worry, we’ll grow into these Standards together.

Some Highlights

The transition to the ASHA CE Standards will not significantly impact your existing CE processes. Below are some key changes. For those interested, we have also included the rationales for these changes at the end of this announcement.

Name change: From Requirements for ASHA CE Provider Approval to Standards for ASHA Approved CE Providers
Number change: There are 12 ASHA CEB Requirements, but there will be 7 ASHA CE Standards.
Reference to privacy and intellectual property laws and regulations (Standard 1) to ensure the privacy and security of records, honor intellectual property rights and adhere to all relevant laws and regulations.
Record retention (Standard 1): The current retention period is 7 years for course planning documents and 2 years for participant information (reporting). The retention period will be 4 years for both course planning documents and participant information (reporting) when the new Standards are implemented.
Course Instructor transparency (Standard 3): The language used to describe course planner and instructor transparency will focus on understanding how course planner and instructor perspectives (instead of conflicts of interest) may influence course design and content.
Content Validity (Standard 4): There are 3 changes to note, all designed to enhance course quality:
- Providers must ensure the course planners and instructors "actively engage in ongoing professional development."
- When a course includes clinical recommendations, there will need to be disclosure of the level and type of evidence those recommendations are based upon.
- Providers need to ensure content is balanced by informing learners about potential benefits and risks of any recommendations, especially if the content is based solely on expert opinion.
Learning outcomes (Standard 5): Instead of an entire Requirement focused on learning outcomes, there is now one Standard (5.2.1). The focus of the new Standard will be describing anticipated changes in the learners' knowledge, competencies, and performance after participating in the course.
Learners indicating they wish to earn ASHA CEUs (Standard 7): Many of you do this already, but when the Standards are implemented, you will need to ask learners if they give you permission to send their completion data to ASHA CE, and if they intend to earn ASHA CEUs.

In future communications, we’ll share more about the revised ASHA CE Policies that support these Standards, as well as what needs to be done and by when, and what will happen next.

Read about the process used by CEB and CE staff to develop and vet the Standards.

If you have any questions, please contact Amy Hasselkus, Director, CE Standards & Compliance, at ahasselkus@asha.org.

Rationales for changes noted above:

Name change:

Rationale: A standard as defined by ANSI is “a document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines, or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes, and services are fit for their purpose.” Standards FAQs (ansi.org) For Providers, the Standards provide a road map for offering quality continuing education.

Number change:

Rationale: The Standards were slimmed down by moving those items in the current requirements that reflected operational or administrative tasks (such as deadlines, cancellation, and refund policies, etc.) to a policies document (yet to be released).
The language was simplified, and redundancies removed.

Reference to relevant laws and regulations for privacy and intellectual property:

Rationale: Standards 1.2.4 and 1.2.5 include language about adhering to laws and regulations. In the twenty plus years since we last updated our standards, laws and regulations have been passed related to intellectual property, data privacy and security that supersede anything ASHA CE requires.

Record retention:

Rationale: This eliminates potential confusion caused by having two different record retention periods and covers participants’ 3-year certification maintenance cycle.

Course Instructor transparency:

Rationale: This shift encourages a thoughtful approach to determining what should be disclosed to learners, with an emphasis on relevance with less focus on distinguishing between financial and non-financial relationships.

Learning outcomes:

Rationale: We are encouraging Providers, course planners, and instructors to think beyond the lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy and consider the wider impacts that continuing education courses may have.

Learners indicating they wish to earn ASHA CEUs:

Rationale: To ensure data privacy, it is important to ask learners if they want their information shared with ASHA CE. If they indicate that they do not, they should not be included in participant reporting.