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ACCME Data Report Shows Growth and Advancement in Accredited Continuing Medical Education

Numbers of Educational Activities and Learner Interactions Reach Record High

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) is pleased to release the ACCME Data Report: Growth and Advancement in Accredited Continuing Medical Education–2018. The annual report includes data from a community of 1,750 accredited organizations that offer physicians, other healthcare professionals, and healthcare teams an array of continuing education (CE) resources to promote high-quality, safe, and effective care for patients. 

Key Takeaways 

  • Approximately 1,750 accredited organizations offered close to 180,000 educational activities in 2018. 

  • This education comprised more than 1.2 million hours of instruction and included 36 million interactions with healthcare professionals. 

  • Since 2017, the number of educational events has increased 10%, the hours of instruction increased by 5%, and the number of learner interactions increased by 27%. 

  • The data represents the highest numbers accredited organizations have reported to us in more than 10 years: the number of activities, hours of instruction, and interactions with learners have increased, despite some consolidation among accredited organizations. 

Accredited organizations range from large international institutions to small rural hospitals. Some specialize in local, community-based health issues, others focus on national and international health priorities, and others advance interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) and team-based care. The ACCME began accrediting organizations outside the US several years ago, and this report includes their data as well. The geographic distribution and diversity of CME providers means that physicians, other healthcare professionals, and teams have access to education where they live and work that addresses local, national, and international healthcare priorities. 

“As a practicing physician, I am keenly aware of how fortunate I am to be able to choose from such a wide selection of high-quality educational activities. As the CEO of ACCME, I see first-hand the amazing work our CME providers do every day, and I thank you for delivering relevant education that supports clinicians in delivering optimal health care for all.” — Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, President and CEO, ACCME.  

Hear more from Dr. McMahon in this brief video. 

ACCME Data Report and Supplementary Resources  

Coming Soon: Joint Accreditation Data Report

The first-ever Joint Accreditation Data Report: Scope and Diversity of Accredited Continuing Education for Healthcare Teams–2018 will be available soon at www.jointaccreditation.org. The purpose of the report is to provide a comprehensive picture of the scope of the accredited interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) community, including the range of jointly accredited organizations, educational activities, and learners.

ACCME 

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) is a nonprofit organization based in Chicago, responsible for accrediting organizations that offer continuing medical education (CME) and for recognizing state medical societies as accreditors of local CME programs. The ACCME is a cofounder of Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education™. 

The ACCME sets standards for CME that reflect the values of the educator community and aim to accelerate learning, inspire change, and champion improvement in healthcare. These standards ensure that accredited CME is designed to be relevant to clinicians’ needs, evidence-based, evaluated for its effectiveness, and independent of commercial influence. Through participation in accredited CME, clinicians and teams drive improvement in their practice and optimize the care, health, and wellness of their patients. 

Accredited CME facilitates engagement with physicians and healthcare teams where they live, learn, and work. There are approximately 1,700 accredited CME providers within the ACCME System, across the country and internationally, representing a range of organizations including medical schools, hospitals/health systems, government/military agencies, specialty societies, and insurance/managed-care companies. Accredited providers offer about 180,000 activities each year, comprising more than one million hours of instruction and including more than 36 million interactions with physicians and other healthcare professionals. 

For more information, visit www.accme.org. You can also follow the ACCME on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.