The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) invites you to participate in a call for comment on a proposed policy prohibiting gift cards or personal remuneration associated with the purchase of accredited CME.
The ACCME revisited its July 2022 guidance on transparency in marketing incentives for accredited CME and seeks to establish a policy that will provide clarity, eliminate ambiguity in enforcement, and affirm the ACCME’s responsibility to protect the integrity of accredited CME.
We encourage you to review the draft policy below before completing the survey (approximately 5-15 minutes).
All viewpoints are welcome, but please make your comments constructive.
Please complete this survey by Monday, January 26, 2026, at 7:00 pm Central.
We do not accept anonymous responses. To submit the survey, you will need to provide your contact information.
If you have questions, please contact us at info@accme.org or visit accme.org.
Thank you for your participation.
Proposed Policy on Prohibition of Gift Cards or Personal Remuneration Associated with the Purchase of Accredited CME
An accredited provider, or any of its agents, may not offer, provide, or facilitate a gift card, cash equivalent, or other form of personal remuneration to any individual learner or group of learners as part of, or in association with, the purchase or registration for an accredited continuing medical education (CME) activity. This prohibition applies regardless of the source of payment for the CME activity, including self-payment and circumstances in which an employer, institution, or other entity pays for or reimburses the costs associated with participation.
Permitted Practices This policy does not prohibit the offering of a discount, credit, or other price adjustment to the learner, employer, institution, or other entity that pays the registration fee for a CME activity, provided that no portion of such discount or credit is offered or transferred to an individual learner as a personal benefit.
Rationale This policy is intended to prevent the creation of a personal financial benefit to individual physicians or other learners when CME registration fees are paid by employers or other entities. Such arrangements are inconsistent with the ACCME’s expectations and policies for accredited providers.
Implementation Note This policy replaces ACCME’s prior communicated expectation to accredited providers regarding the use of gift cards. Accredited providers must ensure that their marketing materials, registration systems, promotional communications, and any arrangements with third-party vendors, joint providers, or agents do not include the offer or facilitation of gift cards, cash equivalents, or other personal remuneration associated with accredited CME activities.
