The Southern California ERC is an accredited CME Provider by the Institute of Medical Quality of the California Medical Association. We constantly strive to meet all requirements for quality CME activities. In particular we support and encourage all our speakers to address issues of Cultural and Linguistic Competency. Below is the Policy for conforming with the guidelines set into place under AB1195.

New Cultural and Linguistic Proficiency Policy Conforming with AB 1195 Guidelines The following policy applies to non-exempt CME activities, is aligned with the 2009 updated CME criteria and addresses the essential elements for compliance with Assembly Bill 1195. These guidelines and compliance levels are effective January 1, 2010. The provider must be in compliance with all California State laws regarding continuing medical education, including Assembly Bill 1195, effective July 1, 2006.

The provider must be in compliance with all California State laws regarding continuing medical education, including Assembly Bill 1195, effective July 1, 2006.

Compliance:

Provider meets or exceeds minimum requirements of AB 1195 by the following:

a) Acknowledge within their CME mission statement the importance of culture and communication for delivering effective health care and establish a commitment to educate physicians to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate care.

b) Assess for each planned CME activity 1 any evidence of health disparities 2 that have been linked to cultural or linguistically related practice gaps (i.e. physician knowledge, competence, or performance) found within the relevant physician learners/patient community. If no cultural or linguistic health or health care disparities or practice gaps are identified, this should be documented 3

c) Generate at least one educational component for each activity that addresses a specific need underlying the identified cultural/linguistic competency-based quality gap.

d) Incorporate appropriate assessment tools 4 for each cultural/linguistic component, and evaluate any changes/improvements 5 that occur as a result.

1 Evidence can be found through literature searches, national and regional databases, surveys, needs assessments, community reports.

2 Health disparities may arise from a variety of sources such as difference in disease incidence, risk, burden, access to care, diagnosis, testing, treatment, or adherence.

3 Provide a list of the types and places searched.

4 Resources on cultural and linguistic proficiency is available at www.imq.org

5 Changes include learner competence, performance, or patient outcomes.