CME Expertise
PASSIN ASSOCIATES' clients experience a team approach to their special and unique needs. Under the direction of president, Steve Passin, each project has a project manager who is an experienced educator. The project manager acts as the client’s point-of-contact and engages other members of the team, as appropriate, to the project. While all members of the team manage self-studies amongst their workload, each member also brings special skills and expertise to Passin Associates' clients, as follows:
| To view bio, please click on an image below | |||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| STEVE PASSIN, FACME, CHCP | SUE O'BRIEN | JUDY M. SWEETNAM | DENISE J. DOYLE | MARGARET DICOLLI | PEGGY WELSH |
As former deputy health secretary for the State of California and an executive with both the American Medical Association and the American Society of Internal Medicine, Steve brings policy level experience as a government regulator and at the national level of organized medicine in the United States. In addition, as a former surveyor for the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), he has inside knowledge of the accreditation process that governs most of SP&A's clients. Mr. Passin also heads up the SP&A's strategic-level services for those clients engaging the company for mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructuring relative to maintaining a separation between education and promotion in accordance with firewall policies and procedures specified by accrediting agencies and the Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Passin Associates works with such clients ranging from multinational corporations to smaller multi-company entities and their holding companies. For Passin Associates' self-study clients, Steve specializes in the chapter that is critical to attaining ACCME Level 3 accreditation-Engagement with the Environment (Criteria 16-22), the ACCME chapter on Evaluation and Improvement (Criteria 11-15), and the ACCME chapter on the Introduction and Prologue. He is also the Company's expert on Accreditation Council on Pharmacy Education (ACPE) self-studies.
As a former CME manager for a managed care system and a private education company, Sue understands the stresses and pressures of operations in a CME office. Her 20 years in CME has equipped her to address and resolve almost all issues that arise in the daily functions of a busy CME Office. While proficient in all aspects of the ACCME Criteria for Accreditation, Sue also brings several areas of special expertise to clients, including Passin Associates' senior authority on regularly scheduled series, systems to ensure that proof of compliance is being maintained in client files, and operational policies and procedures. She acts as a virtual CME director for several of SP&A's clients. As such, she manages the regulatory compliance function for those clients and coordinates and directs onsite client staff in managing the day to day functions of a CME office. Sue also works with clients who have been put on probation or a progress report. She helps to design systems to improve areas that are deficient and provides guidance on changes in the CME environment.
As a former instructional designer and educational researcher, Ms. Sweetnam is an educationalist and brings SP&A clients a wealth of support including the process of conducting gap analyses and needs assessments, management of focus groups and other forms of learner research, methods of assessing educational outcomes, the process of writing effective learning objectives, and the rationale for choosing educational formats and methods. While Ms. Sweetnam is also proficient in all aspects of an ACCME self-study, she specializes in the chapter on CME planning. She is the lead trainer for SP&A, and in that capacity collaborates with other Passin Associates staff on in-service training programs that are tailored to each client's needs. She has earned her CHCP certification.
As a former Director of CME for a major academic medical center and project manager for a medical education company, Denise brings Passin Associates' clients in those domains a wealth of experience in working within research-challenged environments, the complex relationships between hospital management and voluntary staff physicians, the critical connection between the CME Program and the quality framework of the institution, and the monitoring of regularly scheduled series. Ms. Doyle also brings significant experience in marketing, which equips her to advise clients on communication strategies within all types of organizations. While Denise is also proficient in all aspects of an ACCME self-study, she works closely with initial accreditation clients, supports the installation of systems to document compliance with the ACCME Criteria for Accreditation, and is apprenticing with Mr. Passin on ACPE accreditation requirements. Ms. Doyle has earned her CHCP certification.
Margaret brings a significant level of experience in the management of consulting companies and with that experience directs SP&A's internal administration team. As Director of Client Services and Finance for the Company, Ms. DiColli manages accounting functions including invoicing, project management and compliance.
Peggy Welsh is the Manager of Administration at Passin & Associates and has a strong background in complex project management. As the first line of contact for Passin Associates' clients, Peggy ensures that client needs are expeditiously addressed. She maintains the Passin website, ensuring that client resources are up to date, and manages detailed scheduling within the timelines established for each project. She works with clients in preparing CME Policies and Procedures documents and creating electronic fillable forms. During cycles of self-study submission, she performs the final editing and assembly of the complex integrated PDFs for these multi-hundred page books. She works with clients on cover design, and supervises the production, printing and submission process.
