Achieve Commendation
Accreditation with Commendation recognizes and rewards the achievements of organizations that positively impact the education of healthcare professionals and patients.
Accreditation with Commendation
Accredited CME providers have the option to aim to achieve Accreditation with Commendation, a six-year term. To be eligible for Accreditation with Commendation, CME providers must demonstrate compliance with the Core Accreditation Criteria, Standards for Integrity and Independence and required policies, in addition to the Menu of Commendation Criteria, shown below. Choosing from the menu, providers need to demonstrate compliance with any seven criteria of their choice, from any category, and at least one from the Achieves Outcomes category, for a total of eight criteria.
About Accreditation with Commendation
Criteria
Our goal is to encourage and reward accredited CME providers for implementing best practices in pedagogy, engagement, evaluation, and change management, and for focusing on generating meaningful outcomes.
We want to recognize the achievements of organizations that advance interprofessional collaborative practice, address public health priorities, create behavioral change, show leadership, leverage educational technology, and demonstrate the impact of education on healthcare professionals and patients.
Applying for Accreditation with Commendation
The Menu of Criteria for Accreditation with Commendation (PDF) can be used by any ACCME-accredited and state-accredited providers that are eligible to apply for Accreditation with Commendation. Please note that initial applicants are not eligible for Accreditation with Commendation.
Compliance with the menu of commendation criteria is optional for CME providers and is not required to achieve Accreditation. Providers will continue to achieve and retain Accreditation by demonstrating compliance with the Core Accreditation Criteria, Standards for Integrity and Independence, and ACCME policies.
State-Accredited Providers should check with their Recognized Accreditor about the timeline for receiving accreditation materials about demonstrating compliance with the commendation criteria.
The Menu Approach
We adopted the menu approach to create flexibility, reflect the diversity of the CME community, and offer a pathway for all CME provider types to achieve Accreditation with Commendation.
To be eligible for Accreditation with Commendation using this menu (PDF), CME providers will need to demonstrate compliance with any seven criteria of their choice, from any category—and at least one criterion from the Achieves Outcomes category—for a total of eight criteria.
There are 16 commendation criteria, divided into 5 categories:
- Promotes Team-based Education
- Addresses Public Health Priorities
- Enhances Skills
- Demonstrates Educational Leadership
- Achieves Outcomes
Commendation Resources
Herein you will find resources to help you achieve Accreditation with Commendation. Providers seeking commendation must comply with the Core Accreditation Criteria, Standards for Integrity and Independence, and required policies and demonstrate compliance with the Menu of Criteria for Accreditation with Commendation. To be eligible for Accreditation with Commendation, CME providers must demonstrate compliance with Core Accreditation Criteria, in addition to the Menu of Commendation Criteria. Choosing from the menu, providers need to demonstrate compliance with any seven criteria of their choice, from any category, plus one criterion from the Achieves Outcomes category, for a total of eight criteria.
Resources
Compliance Examples
Below are examples of compliance and non-compliance for each of the criterion.
Quick Answers
Yes. Accredited providers can use individual sessions or tracks within larger activities to count as examples of compliance with the Menu of Criteria for Accreditation with Commendation. We expect the demonstration of compliance to meet the critical elements of the criterion/criteria. We have not set a specific threshold for what proportion of an activity needs to be compliant; however, we expect that if part of an activity is used to demonstrate compliance, that part is meaningful to the overall activity. We will review and analyze the examples that providers submit and offer additional guidance if needed.
Publish Date: August 1, 2019
It depends on the criterion.
Frequency: Some of the criteria standards require that providers meet the criterion in a number or percentage of their activities, depending on the program size. For these criteria, we expect providers to demonstrate the frequency of activities that have met the critical elements. For these criteria, if the same content is repeated for different audiences, at different times or places, those count as separate instances. This measure is used for the following criteria: Engages Teams, Engages Patients/Public, Engages Students, Advances Data, Addresses Population Health, Optimizes Communication Skills, Optimizes Technical/Procedural Skills, Utilizes Support Strategies, and Improves Performance. (For the Creates Individualized Learning Plans Criterion, evidence is demonstrated through a number of learners based on program size.)
Diversity and breadth: Other criteria standards require that providers demonstrate compliance through a specified number of examples of activities or initiatives. With these examples, we expect providers to demonstrate the diversity and breadth of approaches they used to meet the critical elements. For these criteria, providers need to submit examples that are completely different from each other. Different iterations of the same activity content repeated for different audiences at different times and places, would not count as separate examples. This measure is used for the following criteria: Collaborates Effectively, Engages in Research/Scholarship, Supports CPD for CME Team, Demonstrates Creativity/Innovation, Improves Healthcare Quality, and Improves Patient/Community Health.
Publish Date: February 4, 2021
Last Revised: May 8, 2024
When applying for Accreditation with Commendation, you determine the size of your CME program by calculating the number of activities during your current accreditation term, using the best information you have at the time of your application. These are the ranges: Small program: 39 or fewer activities; medium: 40-100; large: 101-250; extra‐large: 250 or more activities.
When calculating your program size, take into consideration how you enter your activities in the Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS). For example:
- Report and count each course as a separate activity, even if it is repeated at multiple sites or on multiple dates.
- Report and count each regularly scheduled series (RSS) as a single activity each year it is offered.
- Count an enduring material as one activity, even if it is offered for multiple years, as long as the content has been unchanged. Enduring materials can be entered in PARS for up to a 3-year period. If the enduring material is reviewed and renewed for an additional 3-year period, it would then be entered as a new activity and be counted as a separate activity. Note that due to the way enduring materials have historically been entered in PARS, you may see multiple versions of the same enduring materials. You can still count them as one activity for each 3-year period in which they were offered.
- Report and count journal-based CME activities individually by journal, article, or by collections of articles.
Publish Date: March 12, 2021
Last Revised: February 28, 2023
Yes, the total number of activities you’ve provided across the term of accreditation (four or six years) includes both directly provided and jointly provided activities. It may be helpful to consider how some of your collaborations with joint providers could help you achieve some of the goals of the commendation criteria.
