News

THANK YOU FOR JOINING LEARN TO THRIVE PLUS!

On October 29, we were thrilled to welcome 300 participants from nearly 200 accredited organizations to our virtual gathering, Learn to Thrive PLUS! Attendees across 41 states and two countries connected to network, share best practices, and discuss impactful strategies and resources from Learn to Thrive 2024. With 50 faculty members and 17 Inspire & Teach! peer-led sessions, participants left inspired and ready to apply new insights.

“I’m taking so many immediate actionables away from this to share with my team. THANK YOU,”
shared attendee Hannah Sass, Senior Continuing Education Manager at Sepsis Alliance.

A heartfelt thank you to all attendees, faculty, and staff who made this event successful!

NOW ACCEPTING IDEAS FOR 2025 LEARN TO THRIVE WORKING GROUPS!

We are now welcoming ideas for 2025 Working Groups, which kick off at the 2025 Learn to Thrive meeting, April 23-25, in Chicago, IL.
If you have an idea that you’d like to share or discuss, please email Steve Singer at ssinger@accme.org by December 6, 2024.
What is a Working Group? Find more information about Learn to Thrive Working Groups here.

CALL FOR EXHIBITORS

Plans for ACCME’s Learn to Thrive 2025 are underway and we are excited to offer organizations an opportunity to exhibit at the event, taking place in Chicago, IL, on April 23-25, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Our annual conference presents a unique opportunity to interact with more than 650 decision-makers from accredited continuing education organizations in the US and beyond.

ACCME’s system includes more than 1,600 accredited education providers who offered more than 247,000 accredited educational activities in 2023 resulting in approximately 68,000,000 interactions with physician learners and other healthcare professionals. In 2023, accredited providers reported receiving $3.5 billion in total revenue that they used to purchase meeting, technology, staffing, and other resources to support their programs of CE.

Please visit the Exhibitor Information page for details, including the Exhibitor Prospectus, application, and agreement form. Applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis. If you have any questions, please contact us at education@accme.org.

Reminders for Accredited Providers

MOC LEARNER-COMPLETION DEADLINES

You can report CME and Maintenance of Certification/Continuous Certification (MOC/CC) data for your physician learners in PARS and that information will be made available to all of the U.S. licensing boards as well as certifying boards with which ACCME collaborates (full list below).

As we near the end of 2024, please note that all certifying boards have year-end reporting requirements for their physicians. To best support your physician learners, please enter their CME for MOC completion data for 2024 in PARS by the deadlines listed below, and remember, PARS is always open!  We encourage you to report learner data into PARS on an ongoing basis as physicians complete activities, preferably within 30 days of the learner completing the activity and evaluation.

• Learner completion data should be submitted to PARS by December 1, 2024, for the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP).
• Learner completion data should be submitted to PARS by December 31, 2024, for the following certifying boards:
  • American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA)
  • American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)
  • American Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (ABOHNS)
  • American Board of Pathology (ABPath)
  • American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS)
  • American Board of Surgery (ABS)
  • American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS)

For questions about submitting learner data in PARS, check out this tutorial. Explore additional technical details on submitting learner data in PARS using batch upload processes or web services here.
Questions? Email us at info@accme.org. We are happy to help!

2025 ANNUAL ACCREDITATION FEES
The week of October 21, we sent invoices for annual accreditation fees to ACCME-accredited providers as well as those accredited by the California Medical Association and Massachusetts Medical Society, (at the request of those state medical societies). Payment is due January 31, 2025. The fee schedule is posted here.

If your organization is accredited by the ACCME or one of the state medical societies listed above and you did not receive an invoice, please contact info@accme.org. If your organization is accredited by a state medical society not listed above, please contact your accreditor.
If you have already paid your invoice, thank you!

AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION CERP ADOPTS STANDARDS FOR INTEGRITY AND INDEPENDENCE IN ACCREDITED CONTINUING EDUCATION

We are pleased to announce that the Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition, the agency which oversees the American Dental Association’s Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP), has adopted the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, effective June 1, 2026. The Standards are designed to ensure that accredited continuing education provides healthcare professionals with accurate, balanced, evidence-based information that supports safe and effective patient care.

Released in December 2020, the Standards reflect the values of the continuing education community. In adopting the standards, the ADA Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition joins other accrediting bodies representing multiple health professions. Independence from industry is the cornerstone of accredited continuing education. By achieving consensus on the Standards, these accrediting bodies in the health professions stand together, not only to continue to assure the delivery of high-quality learning experiences, but also to sustain the protection from industry bias and marketing that accreditation rules deliver:

• Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)
• Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)
• American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
• American Academy of PAs (AAPA)
• American Dental Association Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP)
• American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
• American Osteopathic Association (AOA)
• Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry’s Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (ARBO/COPE)
• Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education™

“The goal of the Commission is to maintain the highest standards for continuing education,” said Dr. Kecia Leary, ADA CCEPR chair. “This ensures the public and our patients that dentists and allied oral health providers that receive continuing education from CERP-recognized providers receive this education from organizations that strive for quality in their educational endeavors.”

ACCME President and CEO Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, added: “We are thrilled that the ADA Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition has adopted the Standards. This step underscores our shared dedication to providing healthcare professionals with high-quality, evidence-based education that is free from commercial influence. By embracing these Standards, the ADA Commission strengthens our collective efforts to ensure that educators and accrediting bodies deliver the trusted learning experiences clinicians and teams need to offer safe, effective, and compassionate care to their patients.”

Education & Resources

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: Narrative Transformation for Equity in Health Webinar

Join us November 21 at 2:00 PM CT for the next National Health Equity Grand Rounds as we explore the power of narrative transformation to advance health equity. National thought leaders from diverse backgrounds, including physicians, writers, artists, narrative strategists, filmmakers and digital media experts, will gather in community to share insights on how to challenge harmful narratives and reshape how we think about health.

ACCME is proud to serve as an amplification collaborator of the National Health Equity Grand Rounds, which was designed and is supported by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Continuing Medical Education, the American Medical Association, the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, and Disability Belongs.

SACME CPD SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM: Advancing Research and Evaluation in Health Professional Education

Registration is open for the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) CPD Scholarship Program. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn how to incorporate the latest research and scholarship into your CPD/CME practice.

This program will kick off at the 2025 SACME Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, (available both in person and virtually). Following the launch, participants will engage in monthly two-hour virtual sessions, culminating at the 2026 SACME Annual Meeting, which will also offer both in-person and virtual attendance options. During this program, you will be able to develop your own research or program evaluation project under the guidance of faculty experts.

CELEBRATING OUR CME PROFESSIONALS

The evidence is in. Accredited CME has been shown to be one of the most effective methods for improving patient safety and CME professionals help organizations control spending and eliminate waste. Visit www.accme.org/value to communicate the value of your work using our one-pager or social media toolkit.

It’s not too early to plan for the first annual Healthcare Continuing Education Professionals Day  beginning Friday, January 24, 2025. Mark your calendar and join us in celebrating our community of CE planners, speakers, reviewers, faculty, facilitators, and much more. We encourage you and your organization to plan activities and watch this page for ideas, resources, and upcoming giveaways!

New Podcasts: CEO Graham McMahon Shares Insights on Continuing Education In Three New Podcasts

Clinician Perspectives: Humanizing Healthcare
This Clinical Life podcast by Practicing Excellence presents an insightful discussion between host Stephen Beeson, MD, and special guest Dr. McMahon about the shift in healthcare professional development from a focus on technical skills to a more comprehensive framework.

National Association Medical Staff Services Gateway: CME Data for Credentialing
Karen Claxton, MBA, CPCS, CPMSM, FMSP, speaks with Dr. McMahon and ACCME Board Member Susan DuBois, CPCS, CPMSM, about the alignment between CME and the medical services industry. Listen and learn about how medical services professionals (MSPs) can utilize learner credit data to verify physician credentials.