SAN ANTONIO—The Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE) Advisory Committee, established by the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry (ARBO), held its inaugural meeting here last month. They discussed changes to COPE accreditation standards to more closely align with other health care professions.

Lisa Fennell, ARBO executive director, told VMail, “The proposed changes are to incorporate educational planning and outcomes measurement into COPE’s accreditation standards to help make them more similar to medicine, nursing and pharmacy. Those three accrediting bodies have a program for joint accreditation for CME.

"In an emerging health care environment consisting of a more team-based approach, we’re working toward the ultimate goal of changing our standards to be more equivalent to them in hopes of participating with this group. That will enable someone to put on an interprofessional CE program with a single application, single fee, and the same standards across the board.”

Susy Yu, OD, MBA, FAAO, COPE committee chairperson, said, “This was a great first meeting. I’m confident that each of the organizations will make valuable contributions to improving the COPE accreditation process, particularly in the implementation of the updated standards.”

Attendees of the meeting included J. Bart Campbell, OD, representing the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE); Jenny Coyle, OD, representing the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO); Mark Eger, OD, representing the American Academy of Optometry (AAO); Sandra Fortenberry, OD, representing the American Optometric Association (AOA); and James Campbell, OD; Michael Ohlson, OD; Jill Martinson-Redekopp, OD; Jerry Richt, OD; and Susy Yu, OD, MBA, representing COPE. Larry Alexander, OD, another committee member, was unable to attend the meeting.

ARBO established COPE in 1993 to accredit continuing education on behalf of optometric licensing boards for the public welfare. There are over 980 CE providers in the COPE system who have presented over 45,000 COPE-accredited courses and events.

ARBO is a non-profit organization based in Charlotte, N.C., and serves 66 boards of optometry in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The COPE Advisory Committee plans to meet again in the spring of 2015.