Delivering Continuing Medical Education (CME) to healthcare professionals is a critical component of the healthcare industry. Accredited providers play a crucial role in providing knowledge and skills to healthcare professionals to keep them updated with the latest advances and practices in the field.
Accredited providers are recognized as trustworthy and credible organizations that provide high-quality CME activities.
In this blog post, we will guide you on how to become an accredited provider of Continuing Medical Education.
In 2023, the ACCME (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education) reported that accredited providers offered over 247,000 CME activities, a 7% increase from 2022.
These activities resulted in more than 1.3 million AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ awarded (up ~2% year-over-year) and generated over 68 million learner interactions, which is a 27% rise compared to the prior year.
Although the number of providers has declined (about 11% since 2018) largely due to consolidations in healthcare systems, the scale and reach of CME programming continues to grow.
In 2022, there were 1,620 accredited organizations, which together offered approximately 230,000 educational activities increasing 13% from 2021.
Live, in-person courses rebounded to about 85,000, up from 80,000 in 2021. Also of note: enduring materials (self-study, online formats, etc.) saw a jump of ~21% to ~108,500 from about 89,000 the previous year.
These data underline several essential points for anyone seeking to become an accredited CME provider:
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High demand and expansion: More activities, more learner interactions, especially via online and enduring formats, meaning providers need systems that scale.
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Financial considerations: Revenue from registration fees, advertising and exhibits, and grants continue to be important; providers should understand diverse funding sources and maintain transparency.
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Quality and impact metrics: Increasing numbers of activities are measuring outcomes, both at the patient-care/community health level. Activities that track improvements in population health increased over 300% in 2022 compared to 2021.
Let's take a look at how you can become a CME provider to be part of the growing success in the area.
| Step | What You Do | Key Actions / Requirements | Purpose / Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Understand the ACCME Criteria | Learn the rules and standards set by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. |
• Review ACCME criteria (independence, evidence-based content, free from commercial influence, etc.) • Understand mission & scope, ethical guidelines, instructional methods. |
Ensures that your CME program meets established standards of quality, validity, credibility. Lays the foundation. |
| 2. Develop a Systematic Process | Create structured processes for planning, executing, evaluating, and improving CME activities. |
• Establish a planning workflow with learning objectives. • Set up feedback / evaluation mechanisms. • Use data to refine and improve content. |
Helps maintain consistency, measure effectiveness, adapt over time to better serve learners. |
| 3. Secure Accreditation | Apply for accreditation once your program meets the required standards. |
• Prepare documentation (course outlines, learning objectives, etc.). • Submit application to ACCME or relevant accrediting body. • Wait for review and approval. |
Once accredited, you gain formal recognition, credibility, and may become eligible for additional benefits. |
| 4. Maintain Accreditation | Ongoing compliance and improvement after accreditation is granted. |
• Provide annual evidence of meeting criteria. • Collect and analyze feedback. • Show impact (e.g. on provider knowledge, patient care) and improvements. • Ensure all CME activities remain compliant in practice. |
Maintaining trust, meeting evolving standards, ensuring your CME continues to be valid and meaningful. |
| 5. Deliver CME Programs | Actually implement and offer the CME activities to learners. |
• Design programs for varied healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, PAs, pharmacists) • Make them engaging, interactive • Use webinars, etc. • Collect feedback on learning outcomes / practice outcomes. |
The delivery is where your plans and accreditation translate into educational value; interactivity and relevance maximize learning and impact. |
| 6. Partner With a CME Webinar Platform | Use technology/platform support to streamline, ensure compliance, improve learner experience. |
• Automate registration, tracking, certificate delivery • Use features like analytics, live polls, Q&A • Reduce administrative burden. |
Enhances efficiency, learner engagement, transparency; supports meeting ACCME criteria more reliably. |
1. Understand the ACCME Criteria
The first step towards becoming an accredited provider of Continuing Medical Education is to understand the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) criteria. The ACCME is responsible for accrediting CME providers in the US. It has established a set of accreditation criteria that providers must follow to maintain accreditation. The criteria ensure that CME activities are independent, evidence-based, and free from commercial influence.
2. Develop a Systematic Process
Accredited providers must demonstrate that they follow a systematic process for planning, evaluating, and improving their CME activities. Providers must develop a program that meets the needs of healthcare professionals and aligns with the ACCME criteria. Accredited providers must continually assess their CME activities to ensure that they are providing up-to-date and high-quality education.
Providers should have a system in place for collecting and analyzing feedback from healthcare professionals who have attended their CME activities. This helps providers identify areas of improvement and ensure that their programs are constantly evolving to meet the needs of healthcare professionals.
3. Secure Accreditation
After understanding and meeting the ACCME criteria, providers must submit an application to receive accreditation. The process typically involves providing detailed information about your CME activities and submitting documents including course outlines and learning objectives. Once approved, accredited providers will be listed on the ACCME website and may be eligible to receive funding and other benefits.
4. Maintain Accreditation
Maintaining accreditation is an ongoing process that requires careful planning and continual assessment of CME activities. Accredited providers must provide evidence that their programs meet the ACCME criteria on an annual basis in order to maintain their accreditation status.
Providers should be able to show how their CME activities have helped healthcare professionals improve their knowledge, skills, and practice. This can include collecting feedback from participants on the impact of the CME activity and providing evidence that the activity has resulted in positive changes in patient care or health outcomes.
5. Deliver CME Programs
Providers should offer a variety of educational opportunities that meet the needs of various healthcare professionals, including medical doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and pharmacists. The programs should be relevant to the target audience and they must be interactive, engaging, and provide opportunities for learners to apply the knowledge gained.
Webinars are an increasingly popular way to deliver CME activities to healthcare professionals. Webinars offer the convenience of attending a course from any location and are often more cost-effective than traditional in-person events. Accredited providers must ensure that they meet all the same criteria as other CME activities.
Delivering CME webinars with advanced tracking and automated certificate delivery is an effective way to ensure that CME activities are engaging and meaningful. This approach allows providers to track learner participation, performance, and completion rates in real-time, allowing for better evaluation of course effectiveness.
Providers should also collect feedback from participants on the impact of the CME activity and provide evidence that the activity has resulted in positive changes in patient care or health outcomes.
Partner With A CME Webinar Platform
Utilizing a CME webinar platform enhances the overall experience of delivering continuing medical education (CME) activities. Webinar platforms offer a variety of features that make delivering CME activities easier and more efficient. These features include automated registration, advanced tracking, and certificate delivery.
Webinar platforms also offer a variety of analytics tools as well as interactive experiences for learners, such as Q&A sessions and live polls. These allow providers to gain insights into learner engagement and performance. Providers can use these tools to identify areas of improvement in their CME activities, as well as find new ways to engage learners and support knowledge transfer.
By partnering with a CME webinar platform like BeaconLive, accredited providers can ensure that their courses are engaging and effective, as well as eliminate hours of administrative work.
Conclusion
Becoming an accredited provider for Continuing Medical Education is a rigorous process that requires a commitment to high-quality education and meeting the ACCME criteria. Accreditation demonstrates to healthcare professionals that your organization is a credible source of education and that your CME activities are independent and evidence-based.
Once you are accredited, commit to maintaining your accreditation status by delivering high-quality CME activities and continuing to evaluate and improve your CME program.
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