Highlights

We’re excited to update you about the upcoming launch of ACCME’s new, improved Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS). Reflecting feedback from providers and other stakeholders, the new version of PARS will feature a modernized, user-friendly, streamlined interface for activity and learner reporting. Here are a few of the highlights. 

We’re Making Things Easier for You 

These fields will be removed:

• Reporting Year: When entering multiyear activities, you will only need to enter them once rather than for each reporting year.

• Competencies: You’ll no longer need to select competencies for your activities.

• Hours of instruction: You’ll no longer need to enter hours of instruction.

• In-kind commercial support: You’ll no longer need to identify the type of in-kind commercial support you received.

Simplified data entry for repeated activities

• If you offer activities with the same content more than once, you will no longer need to enter the same data multiple times. You can enter the activity once, specifying the date and location for each instance, and PARS will automatically create individual activity entries. 

CME for MOC 

• When registering an activity that counts for Continuing Certification /Maintenance of Certification (MOC) for multiple certifying boards, you’ll only need to complete one attestation.

• You’ll be able to register activities for MOC using an Excel template.

• You’ll be able to enter the last day a learner can claim MOC credit, which is often different than the end date of the activity. This will give you more flexibility and reduce rejections of learner records. 

Help when you need it

• Pop-up descriptions and embedded FAQ provide guidance and clarifications, without taking you away from the PARS site. 

We’re Providing More Opportunities for You 

The new PARS will offer: 

• A dashboard for your CME Program, enabling you to receive notifications about your program and activities, and see high level statistics on your program. 

• The ability to tag activities by commendation criteria, supporting your efforts to achieve Accreditation with Commendation. 

• Expanded capability for searching and filtering within PARS and exporting the results.  

• The option to display any of your activities in CME Finder, not only those that are registered for MOC, MIPS, and REMS. 

• The option to enter physician-learner data for all your activities, not only those registered for MOC. We’ll provide a more streamlined process for entering learner data using the webform and improved learner matching. 

We’re Providing More Value for Your Physician-Learners 

• A more robust version of CME Finder will enable physicians to more easily search for accredited CME activities that address their needs.  

• Physicians will be able to quickly search by activity format, date, types of credit offered, and topic.  

• To improve the value of CME Finder, we’ll expect you to enter a brief description of each of your activities, such as the abstract or objectives. With this information, physicians will be able to search for activities by topic. 

We’re making these changes based on recommendations from the CME community as well as other stakeholders. We appreciate the input we’ve received, and we’ll continue to offer opportunities for CME providers to give us feedback as we move forward.    

Getting Ready for the New, Improved PARS  

We expect to launch the new version of PARS later this year. In the meantime, please continue to enter your activity and learner data as you usually do. Your data will be migrated into the new PARS—you will not need to reenter any data. 

We’ll share updates and instructions in the coming months to support your use of the new version of PARS. We encourage you to begin thinking now about how you might take advantage of the new features after the launch.  

• Activity data: With the new PARS, you’ll have the option to promote any of your current or future activities in CME Finder. Consider how to modify your process and schedule so that you can enter your activities prospectively in PARS. Consider what information you will enter into the activity description field, such as the abstract, content outline, or learning objectives. 

• Learner data: The new PARS will have expanded functionality, giving you the option to enter physician-learner data for any of your activities. We plan to expand our collaborations with certifying and licensing boards to meet their needs and to reduce burdens on physicians. By entering your learner data, you can participate in these collaborations, adding value to your CME program and physician learners. What modifications will you need to make in your own data systems or processes to take advantage of this new opportunity?  

We’re looking forward to working together with you to improve and simplify data reporting. Watch for more updates in our newsletter and on our website.  

Questions? We’re happy to help. Please visit our New PARS webpage or reach out to info@accme.org.