Attendance of Virtual Events and Receiving Accurate Credit

Approved and effective: 12/8/2020
Last reviewed and revised: 1/12/2020

Policy Brief & Purpose

This policy addresses requirements for attending virtual education events, receiving accurate credit based on attendance, and any responses from TPN.health that can be expected in the event of discrepancies between time attended and credit received.

Scope

This policy pertains to all TPN.health subscribers, including those with individual and organizational level profiles.

Policies

To achieve and maintain the standards of quality established by behavioral health professional associations, TPN.health will hold itself to the highest standards applicable. As such, TPN.health will uphold high standards regarding attendance of virtual continuing education events hosted on its platform. It is therefore the policy of TPN.health to require no less than full attendance for each virtual event it hosts, as per the following parameters:

1. TPN.health requires a minimum duration of 60 minutes for any continuing education (CE) event it hosts.
2. An individual must attend no less than 60 minutes of an event in order to receive CE credit.
3. Each 15 minute increment beyond the first hour may count for an additional .25 credit hour and requires no fewer than 15 minutes of demonstrated attendance in order to earn credit. However;
4. TPN.health will not issue credit for more than originally advertised for each event.
5. TPN.health will not issue partial credit.
6. There may be events that do not meet the standards of an accrediting association, and therefore cannot be assumed to be acceptable by the associated profession.
7. Time designated for breaks cannot be counted toward CE credit.

Procedures

Attendance Tracking

1. TPN.Health tracks the attendance of every virtual CE event automatically.
2. The times at which each attendee enters the meeting/webinar are automatically logged in an attendance report, effectively serving as a sign-in/sign-out sheet.
3. After the conclusion of each event, TPN.health clinical staff will compare the time in attendance logged for each attendee to the actual time of the event. Course evaluations will be sent only to those individuals whose attendance time meets or exceeds the actual event time.

Promotion of CE Events

TPN.Health will make it clear in all advertising and promotional materials for virtual events whether an event does or does not meet standards for approval by a particular association.

Best Practices

1. Attendees are encouraged to join all registered sessions as early as possible; TPN.health recommends 10-15 minutes to ensure that attendees are comfortable with using the virtual platform and that all software is loaded correctly. This practice will also reduce any doubt on attendance duration.
2. Attendees are recommended to take great care when entering their email address. The email address is each attendee's unique identifier, effectively serving as a digital signature.
3. Attendees should be aware when joining a virtual CE event that if they are not prompted to enter their name by Zoom as they log on, it is likely a result of automatic login credentials saved in the Zoom app. In such cases, attendees are strongly encouraged to verify the credentials saved in the app so that identity can be confirmed if attendance is ever in doubt.