Wait a Minute: Rethinking the ACCME Accreditation Revisions

Rethinking the ACCME Accreditation Proposed Revisions

Today, I held a webmeeting with three of the smartest, most enthusiastic, ready-for-anything physician volunteers you can imagine.  We were conducting the overall mission assessment required by ACCME Accreditation Criterion 12 as the first step in a multi-month reaccreditation process. And it struck me.  If we eliminate C14 & 15, some of their motivation to get these changes accomplished might be reduced.  They are fired up to get these changes in place now so that we can measure the results.  Part of their enthusiasm stems from their core belief in the CME process, part of their enthusiasm is justifiably self-serving (they want to write a manuscript which may help them get promoted), but part of their enthusiasm, I really believe, comes from the fact that IT’S REQUIRED.  It’s human nature to respond to a deadline, and they know theirs is April 2014.

Maybe eliminating C14 & C15 might not be such a great idea.

ACCME reports that in the November 2012 cohort, 20-30% of providers were non-compliant with C15.  This could be a matter of timing (they didn’t start evaluating their program early enough to make changes and measure the effect.)  But it could also be because they missed the point.

C15 states, “The provider demonstrates that the impacts of program improvements, that are required to improve on the provider’s ability to meet the CME mission, are measured.” Without this, might we inadvertently stall the cycle of continuous improvement?

If we need to rethink this, what about the rest of the proposed changes?

I know that my job is easier when the rules are explicit – and Dr. Kopelow told us on the May 23, 2013 provider webinar that this is true for everyone. My smart, enthusiastic, BUSY physician volunteers would have been baffled if I tried to convince them that a mission statement should include anything more than our expected results … because “it doesn’t say so in the rules.” To me, it makes sense that we will continue to describe our purpose, content areas, target audience and type of activities in the mission statement, but to the person who doesn’t think about CME everyday, this might seem like a massive waste of time.

So, maybe ACCME Accreditation Criterion 1 should be left alone as well.

What do you think?  Make sure you submit your comments to the ACCME by July 2nd!

ACCME accreditation revisions – provider feedback due July 2nd!