Coordinating Council

Purpose

The mission of the UCNS is to provide for accreditation and certification with the goal of enhancing the quality of training for physicians in neurological subspecialties and the quality of patient care.

Membership of the UCNS requires, amongst others, a comprehensive definition of the subspecialty; a comprehensive set of training requirements or the capacity to produce these within two years; a commitment to a certification process; and agreement on these by the major organizations in that subspecialty.

It is the purpose of the Coordinating Council (COC) to identify the organizations working within that subspecialty and help define agreement on the above, so that a UCNS membership application can be successfully completed.

Process

Who would initiate the process?

• Prior to an Application
  Ideally the initiation of the Coordinating Council process would begin prior to submission of an application. To accomplish this timing, the officers, staff, specialty organizations and consultants must become sensitive to the indicators of the need for this process. The UCNS will work with interested groups as soon as significant interest is expressed to the UCNS by a subspecialty.
   
• Subsequent to an Application
  After an application is submitted, the UCNS will determine if other interested organizations should be notified to allow comment on the applicant?s definition of the subspecialty, core curriculum, and program requirements. If other organizations are contacted and feedback is received, the UCNS will decide if the feedback warrants the referral of the applicant to the Coordinating Council. The decision of the applicant organization would be controlling as the COC process is voluntary. In this referral process, the applicant organization could be counseled about the likely outcomes of each decision.

If the applicant elects to proceed, then the UCNS will notify all interested organizations, and will arrange a meeting (phone, electronic, face-to-face, as deemed necessary) of the COC.

What are the steps in the process?

• Step 1
  The Chair of the UCNS would appoint a Chair from within the UCNS directors and two additional members non UCNS directors. The appointment of the Coordinating Council would be accompanied by a written charge to the COC that includes an initial list of the issues identified by the UCNS.
   
• Step 2
  The Chair of the Coordinating Council would initiate a meeting of the applicant representatives to develop a revised list of issues and a plan to address those issues.
   
• Step 3
  The COC would hold a series of conversations with both the applicant subspecialty or board and any related organizations. The COC would use a variety of communication mechanisms including phone, electronic, and face-to-face meetings.
   
• Step 4
  The COC would continue their work until they are comfortable that the issues have a reasonable resolution or that a resolution was impossible at the present time. For either outcome, the conclusions of the COC would be reported to the UCNS and the involved parties.
   

Communications

During the review process, the Chair of the COC would provide frequent feedback to the Chair of the UCNS. At the regular meetings of the UCNS Board of Directors, each active COC would provide a written status report via its Chair.

Understandings

It should be clearly understood that COC cannot speak for the UCNS. It is not an alternate decision making body. It is a mediation body. At all times the applicant retains the decision making authority over its application.

Conclusion

The COC will make a recommendation to the applicants with a copy to the UCNS Board of Directors based on a majority vote of the COC members. The UCNS Board of Directors will review the recommendation, determine a decision, and notify the interested groups.