Our Credo
Educational Grants
Investigator-Initiated
Studies
Heritage
Global Presence
Diversity
Quality Standards
The Vision Care
Institute™, LLC
 

GUIDELINES

 



ELIGIBILITY

EDUCATIONAL AREAS OF INTEREST

EXCLUSIONS

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

GENERAL GUIDELINES

  1. General Requirements for All Educational Grant Requests
  2. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL GRANT REQUESTS ≥ $10,000

 

ELIGIBILITY

Educational grants for certified independent educational activities cannot be provided to an individual health care provider, author, faculty member, or physician practice. Educational grants may only be provided to accredited educational providers that are academic medical centers, hospitals, medical societies, professional associations or government agencies.

Educational Grant requests can be in the form of:

  • Continuing Medical Education Grants
    • Independent continuing medical educational programs/activities with accredited providers such as those accredited by ACCME, etc.
  • Continuing Education Grants
    • Independent continuing educational programs/activities with accredited providers such as those accredited by COPE, NCLE, etc.
  • Non-Accredited Educational Grants
    • Independent educational programs/activities that are not accredited, but of high quality and designed to meet the needs of the profession.
    • Development of patient and/or healthcare professional education materials

Each educational grant request must contain ALL required completed forms and must be submitted at least 8 weeks prior to the date of the event to ensure sufficient time for review.

  • VISTAKON® reserves the right to deny requests not submitted in this timeframe.
  • Faxed and mailed grant submissions are not accepted.
  • Only file types such as .doc, .xls, and .pdf may be attached with grant submissions. We do not accept zipped files (.zip).
  • Grant request is subject to rejection, if information is incomplete or missing.
  • Receipt of a grant request by VISTAKON® does not guarantee approval of your grant request.
  • Financial support may be approved for less than the amount requested.
  • NOTE: Grant requests that include promotional opportunities will be rejected.

If the activity will be certified for continuing education credits, the grant request must be submitted by the accrediting organization administering the meeting. The request must be submitted on the organization's official letterhead with signature.

  • CE Provider Questionnaire and Eligibility Questionnaire for Accredited Providers and Educational Partners must be filled out, signed and included with the submission.
  • All organizations must submit a signed W-9 Form along with their request.
  • If additional information is requested, please include the Grant ID number in the subject line of the e-mail. Also, for identification purposes, please provide the requester's e-mail address that was provided with the original grant submission.
  • Each educational grant request must contain a statement of how disclosure of financial support will be made to program participants for the educational activity. The VISTAKON® recommended statement is "This program is supported by an educational grant from VISTAKON®, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. ("JJVCI"), with funds provided by JJVCI." Company logo will be provided upon request.

Upon successful submission of an educational grant request, VISTAKON® will:

  • Provide a Grant ID number in a confirmation receipt immediately after the grant application is received. If you do not receive a confirmation receipt with the grant ID number, please contact the Help Desk at totalitysitemgr@its.jnj.com.
  • Notify the contact person from the requesting organization regarding the status of the request (e.g. approved, declined, additional information required), and the amount approved, within 8 weeks of receipt.
  • For grant requests ≥ $10,000, if approved for less than the amount requested, the applicant will be required to submit an adjusted budget template for the approved amount.
  • Mail two original Educational Grant Agreements to the requesting organization for counter-signature (for approved grant requests).

[Back to top]

EDUCATIONAL AREAS OF INTEREST

  • Ophthalmology
  • Optometry
  • Paraoptometrics

[Back to top]

EXCLUSIONS

Educational Grants Cannot Be Used To Support:
Requests outside our educational areas of interest Promotional/Sponsorship activities or Exhibits related to products of VISTAKON®
Normal organizational overhead expenses such as the purchase of computer equipment, etc. Travel, lodging, conference expenses or honorarium for an applicant presenting a poster or paper
Programs that have already occurred Reimbursement for physicians, staff or other attendees for the cost of obtaining CE credits
Payment to attendees in any form for their attendance or travel expenses for attending programs (including parking, mileage, etc.) Charitable fundraising events and charitable contributions. If you are a 501(c)3 organization seeking support, forward an e-mail message to vischaritable@its.jnj.com.

[Back to top]

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

VISTAKON® does not generally support international programs. However, if the attendees are predominantly US-based, we may consider an application on an exception basis. Please Contact the Grant Administrator at PAFunding@its.jnj.com or by calling 800-876-6644 for further information.

[Back to top]

GENERAL GUIDELINES

  1. General Requirements For All Educational Grant Requests
    • Signed Letter of Request on organizational letterhead which includes:
      • Statement of educational need for the proposed activity
      • Program overview, date and location
      • Accreditation information (if applicable)
      • Program agenda and/or topics and faculty (confirmed or proposed, if applicable)
      • Funding amount and utilization of requested funds

    Other Required Forms – please ensure that templates are downloaded for each grant submission from the website, as template revisions may be made at any time.

    • Budget Template Form - provided in the Forms Section on the company website
    • Signed W-9 Form - provided in the Forms Section on the company website
    • Signed Continuing Education Provider Questionnaire and Eligibility Questionnaire for Accredited Providers and Educational Partners (for all continuing education applications)

    Each educational grant request must contain a statement of how disclosure of financial support will be made to program participants for the educational activity. The VISTAKON® recommended statement is: "This program is supported by an educational grant from VISTAKON®, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. (JJVCI), with funds provided by JJVCI." Company logo will be provided upon request.





  2. Additional Requirements For Educational Grant Requests ≥ $10,000

    In addition to the General Requirements as noted above, please include a detailed explanation of the following:

    • Detailed needs assessment and learning objectives for the proposed educational activity or platform, which should include information about the source(s) and methodology used to identify the educational need(s). It is strongly recommended that at least 3 separate sources are utilized to support the identified educational need.
      • Examples of sources used to perform a needs assessment may include:
        • Interviews
        • Questionnaires/surveys
        • Practice pattern analysis
        • Focus Groups
        • Literature review
        • Previous CE activity evaluations or educational outcomes
        • Quality Insurance/Quality Assurance (QI/QA) data analysis
    • Program agenda and/or topics and faculty (confirmed or proposed, if applicable)
    • Educational format
    • Target audience
    • Criteria for selecting faculty
    • Description of all components that are part of the educational activity
    • For educational programs with multiple components or materials a diagram or schematic is strongly recommended
    • Plan for recruiting and generating program awareness
    • Anticipated number of participants, including recruitment efforts
    • Proposed timelines for major components and major milestones
    • Funding amount and utilization of requested funds
    • Any proposed educational outcomes measurements of current activity

[Back to top]