The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education sets the record straight on what the organization is, does, and how its accreditation system works in The ACCME at Work: Accreditation, Recognition, Education, Operations, and Governance. Released May 19, the 86-page report is the ACCME’s latest effort in its ongoing initiative to make its inner workings more transparent and understandable to accredited providers, physician learners, other accreditors, healthcare leadership organizations, the public, the media, and the government, according to ACCME Chief Executive Murray Kopelow, MD.

In an audio introduction to the report on the ACCME’s Web site, he added, “We thought it was important to publish this report now, because the ACCME accreditation system has experienced significant change and growth during the past few years. We have undergone this transformation because the government, the public, and the profession of medicine called on accredited CME to increase its accountability.” The report also includes data that show how accredited providers are transitioning to the stricter 2006 Accreditation Criteria. More than half of ACCME-accredited providers have had their accreditation or reaccreditation reviews completed at this point.

This is the latest effort by ACCME to increase transparency and accountability. The organization also has begun publishing more information about accredited providers, accreditation decisions, and compliance findings; broadened the definition of commercial interest to emphasize the separation between education and promotion; and revised its complaints process so now providers have to inform learners if an activity they attend is found to be in noncompliance.

The PDF document can be downloaded in its entirety, or chapter by chapter, from the ACCME’s Web site.

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