ACCME Newsletter

News

ACCME 2020: SAVE THE DATE; SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSALS BY SEPTEMBER 13

We invite you to save the date for the ACCME 2020 Meeting: May 6-8, 2020 at the Hilton Chicago. Registration opens this fall.

You have valuable expertise to share with your colleagues – we welcome your contributions at our upcoming ACCME 2020 Meeting on May 6-8, 2020. There are three ways you can participate:

• Share Your CME Story: How are you changing practice and healthcare through accredited CME? What challenges have you overcome? What have you learned?
• Inspire and Teach: Share your proposal for an educational session and help improve the skills and performance of your colleagues.
• CME Effectiveness & Best Practices: Engaging in CME Research: Share your scholarship – what makes CME effective or ineffective in catalyzing learner change?

The submission deadline is Friday, September 13, 2019.

ER/LA REMS AND OPIOID ANALGESIC REMS REPORTS

The ACCME has released two new data reports showing the scope of continuing education (CE) activities offered by accredited providers within the ACCME System in support of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  Extended-Release and Long-Acting Opioid Analgesics Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (ER/LA REMS) and Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (OA REMS).

Download the 2019 reports below:

• 2019 Report on ER/LA Opioid REMS CME Activities in PARS
• 2019 Report on Opioid Analgesic REMS CME Activities in PARS

For more information, visit the CME in Support of REMS webpage.

Collaboration and Engagement

ACCME AND ABS ANNOUNCE COLLABORATION TO PROMOTE HIGH-QUALITY LEARNING FOR SURGEONS

The ACCME and the American Board of Surgery (ABS) are pleased to announce a new collaboration that will enable accredited CME providers to register activities for ABS Continuous Certification in the Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS). The collaboration will launch in 2020 and we will provide more details as they become available.

MAINE JOINS ACCME STATE MEDICAL BOARD PROGRAM

We welcome the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine and the Maine Board of Osteopathic Licensure to our collaborative program with state medical boards, which also includes the medical boards of North Carolina and Tennessee. The program enables CME providers to report physician participation in accredited CME to the participating boards via ACCME’s Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS).

Please visit our State Medical Boards Pilot webpage for more information. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@accme.org.

ACPE NAMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) is pleased to announce Janet P. Engle, PharmD, PhD (Hon), FAPhA, FCCP, FNAP, as its new Executive Director. “On behalf of the ACPE Board of Directors, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Engle to lead the organization,” said Lori Duke, PharmD, ACPE President. “She will provide energetic and visionary leadership, as well as principled administrative guidance and advocacy for the mission of the organization. Her focus will be to advance our leadership in pharmacy education and continuing professional development at the national and international levels in collaboration with corresponding professional organizations and other stakeholders.” Congrats, Dr. Engle!

CONTINUING BOARD CERTIFICATION: ACHIEVING THE VISION TASK FORCES NAMED

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) has announced the members of the five Continuing Board Certification: Achieving the Vision Task Forces. These Task Forces will work to implement key recommendations outline by the Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future Commission in its final report.

NAM ACTION COLLABORATIVE ON CLINICIAN WELL-BEING AND RESILIENCE

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) announced the release of the first two Clinician Well-Being Case Studies. The case studies provide an overview of initiatives that reduce clinician burnout and support clinician well-being at organizations across the country.

Tips and Tools

PROMOTE THE VALUE OF CME: USE THE ACCME ACCREDITED MARK IN YOUR ACCREDITATION STATEMENT

We encourage CME providers to communicate the value of accreditation to your learners by including the ACCME Accredited or Accreditation with Commendation mark in your accreditation statement, as well as in educational materials and other communications. To learn more, read our Publicizing ACCME Accreditation Policy.

Upcoming Educational Opportunities

ASK YOUR QUESTIONS WEBINARS

• Beginner CME for MOC: Ask Your Questions Webinar – September 24
• Advanced CME for MOC: Ask Your Questions Webinar – November 19

CME for MOC Updates

HELP YOUR ABIM CERTIFIED PHYSICIANS MEET THEIR FIVE-YEAR MOC POINT REQUIREMENTS

American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Board Certified physicians need to earn 100 Maintenance of Certification (MOC) points every five years to remain certified. This means many of your learners will need to earn points by December 31, 2019 to avoid a change in their certification status. Encouraging your learners to claim MOC points as they go ensures the activities they do now will count later and helps avoid last-minute, end-of-year rushes.

To assist your learners in this process you can:

• Let your learners know that your CME+ABIM MOC activities count toward meeting their MOC requirements. Promote these opportunities clearly and frequently through your communication channels, such as your website, social media, newsletters, etc. Use the ABIM CME+MOC badge to identify your activities. You can download the badge from the CME that counts for ABIM MOC webpage.
• Communicate to learners that the process is simple and easy. Explain how they can earn ABIM MOC points at your activities. Clarify that you, as the CME provider, will take care of reporting their MOC points to ABIM.
• Remind learners to claim MOC points for eligible activities they have recently completed.
• CME providers and learners can search for ABIM IDs by the learner’s name or NPI number. Find a physician’s ABIM ID.

Upcoming deadline

• Please report your 2019 CME that counts for ABIM MOC learner completion data in PARS by December 31.
• We encourage you to submit learner data as soon as possible after the activity is completed, so that ABIM can apply the MOC points to physicians' records. This will help manage your learners’ expectations for reporting points, especially for activities that take place late in the year.

For more information, please visit CME that counts for ABIM MOC and CME in Support of MOC.

Questions? Contact us at info@accme.org.

Reminders for Accredited Providers

ACCME IMPLEMENTS NEW, TIERED STRUCTURE FOR ANNUAL ACCREDITATION FEE

Beginning in 2020 the ACCME is implementing a new, tiered structure for the annual accreditation fee paid by ACCME-accredited providers. In June, we sent information to the primary contact for each ACCME-accredited provider explaining the new structure and the amounts due for the 2020 and 2021 annual accreditation fees. If your organization is accredited by the ACCME and did not receive this information, please contact info@accme.org. More information is available here.

Providers accredited by a state medical society should contact their accreditor. The fee schedule is posted here.

Our Story of the Month

BAPTIST HEALTH SOUTH FLORIDA: ADVOCACY FOR CME – MEETING STATE REQUIREMENTS

This month’s Our Story: Exemplary Practices, features Baptist Health South Florida. Marie Vital Acle, MPH, MCHES, Manager, CME Programs and Online Learning, shares her organization’s efforts to meet state requirements for a board-approved CE course on prescribing controlled substances.

“Unwilling to accept that Baptist Health South Florida (BHSF) would not be permitted to provide a state-approved version of this required course to its own physician learners, I headed to Tampa for the Florida Board of Medicine’s (FBOM) June 2018 meeting, where I made an appeal for approval of BHSF’s course.”

Read the full article at the Our Stories webpage.

Career Opportunities

• The ACCME is seeking a Vice President of Data and Information Systems based in our Downtown Chicago office. This newly created position is the leader responsible for information technology strategy and execution. 
• The Program Support Analyst is responsible for providing support to ACCME providers, collaboration partners, staff, and volunteers in their use and understanding of ACCME's proprietary data collection systems, including the Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS).

For Your Reference

“Navigating Tumultuous Change in the Medical Profession: The Coalition For Physician Accountability,” Academic Medicine (available by subscription/purchase only): Authored by Humayun J. Chaudhry, DO, MS; Darrell G. Kirch, MD; Thomas J. Nasca, MD; Peter J. Katsufrakis, MD, MBA; Graham T. McMahon, MD, MMSc; Stephen C. Shannon, DO, MPH; and Andrea L. Ciccone, JD, this article explains how the national organizations responsible for accreditation, assessment, licensure, and certification have come together to form the Coalition for Physician Accountability in efforts to improve the work life of clinicians and staff and enhance the quadruple aim of patient experience.