How do you know if your CME is effective? How do you measure success?
Whether you’re new to ACCME accreditation or have years’ experience as an accredited provider, you’ll want to analyze the changes your CME learners are making.
ACCME’s Analyzes Change criterion requires that:
“The provider analyzes change in learners (competence, performance, or patient outcomes) achieved as a result of the overall program’s activities/educational interventions.”
The word “competence” mentioned in the criterion does not refer simply to an increase in learner knowledge. Competence can be thought of as the strategy to do something—to put knowledge into action, as well as what the learner will do in practice, if given the opportunity.
The Analyzes Change criterion requires that:
- The learner needs to be able to put into practice the knowledge they have gained.
- You, as the provider, need to have data on what changes have occurred in the learner’s ability, practice, or patient outcomes.
Asking your learner to provide examples of changes they made or plan to make will help you get the data you need to measure learner change and the effectiveness of your program. You will want to know the specific things learners change or plan to change so you can analyze those changes against your activity goals and program mission.
ACCME’s Analyzes Change criterion provides a great opportunity to see where you’ve succeeded and where you might need to make improvements. To learn more, we encourage you to visit the ACCME Academy’s short online video Analyzes Change, Program Analysis, & Program Improvement. On our website, you’ll also find examples of Compliance & Noncompliance specific to the Analyzes Change criterion.
