Policies

Partnership Policy

Therapist Resources

Provider: Therapist Resources

NBCC policy reference: C.3, C.11, C.14, J.4(b), J.7

Purpose

Therapist Resources partners with other people and companies on educational events, co-created content, and cross-promotions. An endorsement does not have to be stated for a partnership to imply one. This policy sets the conditions a partner meets before Therapist Resources extends that implied endorsement, and it states the additional rules that apply when a partnered program is offered for NBCC credit.

Guidelines

1. What counts as a partnership

Working with another person or company on an educational event, a co-created program, a joint webinar, or a cross-promotion.

Partnership and sponsorship are different arrangements. Sponsorship is financial or in-kind support for the work of Therapist Resources. Partnership is doing something together. A relationship can be both, and when it is, both policies apply.

2. Conditions before partnering

Before Therapist Resources partners with a person or company:

  • The company and its product meet the eligibility criteria in the Therapist Resources Sponsorship Policy.
  • Executive or managerial staff demonstrate responsiveness to risk-management concerns raised by their customers or by Therapist Resources.
  • Where the partner offers a product Therapist Resources may need to evaluate, that evaluation is completed independently of and before the partnership conversation.

3. Required disclosure

Promotional and learning materials presented as part of the partnership display this statement prominently:

Therapist Resources is partnering with [company or product name] on this event. This partnership is not a recommendation for [company or product name] over any competitor, unless Therapist Resources states that recommendation directly. The partnership is contingent on meeting the terms of the Therapist Resources Partnership Policy.

4. Partnered programs offered for NBCC credit

A partnered program offered for NBCC credit is a cosponsorship under NBCC Continuing Education Provider Policy Section J.7, and different rules apply:

  • NBCC reviews and approves the cosponsorship in writing before the program is presented. There is no retroactive approval.
  • Cosponsorship covers live event programs only, on a one-time preapproved basis. A home study program cannot be cosponsored.
  • The application reaches NBCC at least 90 days before the program, with the application fee, a Cosponsor Relationship Form assigning each provider task to a named person, and a sample certificate.
  • Therapist Resources is solely responsible for all NBCC policy compliance for a cosponsored program, whatever the partnership agreement says between the parties.
  • The Therapist Resources ACEP number is never loaned, lent, sold, or otherwise made available to a partner outside an approved cosponsorship.
  • No partner is described as approved or endorsed by NBCC.
  • Partnership has no bearing on learning objectives, program content, presenter selection, or assessment questions.
  • A partner receives no participant names, contact information, or evaluation responses.
  • Approved cosponsored programs display the Cosponsorship Approval Statement required by NBCC, and their certificates include the signatures of authorized representatives of both parties.

Where a partner owns the event and collects the registration revenue, Therapist Resources directs the partner toward NBCC single program approval in the partner's own name rather than cosponsoring it.

5. When a partner is also something we evaluate

Therapist Resources writes about and evaluates the tools clinicians use, and a partner may be one of them. The partnership is disclosed inside any review of that product, and sponsored, partnered, and unaffiliated tools are held to the same standard. When a finding about a partner is unfavorable, we publish it.

6. Declining and ending partnerships

Therapist Resources declines partnerships that do not meet these conditions, including with companies whose products are widely used or whose audience is large.

A partnership ends when a partner stops meeting the conditions above, becomes unresponsive to risk-management concerns, or asks for influence over program content.

Procedures

  1. Evaluation. The person or company is evaluated against Guideline 2 before any partnership conversation. The evaluation and its outcome are recorded with the date.
  2. CE determination. Decide at the outset whether the program will be offered for NBCC credit. That answer determines whether a cosponsorship application and its 90-day lead time apply, and it cannot be revisited late.
  3. Decision. The ACEP Administrator approves or declines the partnership and records the reason.
  4. Agreement. A written partnership agreement states the disclosure requirements, the content-independence terms, and the conditions under which the partnership ends.
  5. Cosponsorship filing. For a partnered live program offered for NBCC credit, the cosponsorship application, fee, and supporting forms go to NBCC at least 90 days before the program date.
  6. Disclosure. The required statement is added to all promotional and learning materials before publication, and checked as part of the promotional materials review.
  7. Ongoing review. Partnerships are reviewed during the Annual Review of Policies and Procedures. A partner that no longer meets the conditions is ended.
  8. Records. Partnership agreements, evaluations, disclosures, and any cosponsorship approvals are kept with the related program records for 5 years.

Contact Information

Therapist Resources

Email: rindie@therapistresources.com

Website: https://therapistresources.com