Collaboration Aims to Benefit Physicians, Educators, and Patients by Expanding the Diversity of Lifelong Learning Activities that Improve Healthcare Quality and Safety
Philadelphia, PA, and Chicago, IL, April 18, 2017 – The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) have expanded their collaboration to recognize more accredited continuing medical education (CME) for Maintenance of Certification (MOC). With this expansion, accredited providers are now able to register activities that meet ABIM's requirements for Medical Knowledge and/or Practice Assessment. This includes, but is not limited to, formal performance improvement CME (PI-CME) activities.
ABIM and ACCME expanded their collaboration to increase the number and diversity of accredited CME activities that earn both CME credit and MOC points in support of physicians participating in lifelong learning and quality improvement to make a meaningful difference in patient care.
Although ABIM has extended the decision not to require Practice Assessment in its MOC program through December 31, 2018, physicians can still earn MOC points for completing Practice Assessment activities.
Using CME Finder, physicians can choose from more than 3,000 currently available accredited CME activities that count for ABIM MOC.
“In less than two years, ABIM's collaboration with ACCME has resulted in over 3.3 million MOC points earned by more than 68,000 physicians for accredited CME activities they are already doing to stay current and improve the care they provide,” said Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of ABIM. “As our collaboration expands, we want to offer physicians even more choice and convenience for how they fulfill ongoing education and certification requirements. With this expansion, many new types of activities that combine lifelong learning and quality improvement will also be available for dual credit.”
A Simpler, Unified Process
Accredited CME providers can now use the ACCME Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS) to register CME activities that are offered in any format, just as they have been doing for Medical Knowledge activities. Activities may be registered for a single type of ABIM MOC credit or for combinations of credit types, including Medical Knowledge and Practice Assessment, as long as they meet the guidelines described in the ABIM MOC Assessment Recognition Program Guide (pdf).
Building on Success
The expansion builds on the ongoing success of the ABIM/ACCME collaboration. Since the collaboration's launch in 2015, the number and diversity of accredited CME activities that count for ABIM MOC has increased substantially, as has learner participation. More than 240 accredited CME providers registered over 7,000 activities that count for ABIM MOC in PARS.
The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEhp) recognized ABIM and the ACCME with the 2017 Award for Outstanding Educational Collaboration. The award is given to exceptional continuing education professionals and leaders “who are paving the way to improve patient care through education.”
“We celebrate the expansion of our collaboration with ABIM, because it will generate many more opportunities for accredited CME providers to support physician engagement in education that focuses on quality and safety improvement,” said Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, President and CEO, ACCME. “Since its inception in 2015, our collaboration has succeeded in making a real and meaningful difference to physicians and educators who are working every day to improve healthcare in their communities. I look forward to building on that success and continuing to work together with ABIM, accredited CME providers, and physicians to leverage the power of education to optimize care for the patients we all serve.”
For More Information
Resources for CME providers:
CME that Counts for ABIM MOC: Basic information and links to FAQ and other resources.
ABIM MOC Assessment Recognition Program (pdf): Guide to the requirements and process for ABIM recognition of accredited CME activities for MOC points.
Resources for physicians:
CME Finder: Web-based tool, enabling physicians to search for CME activities that count for ABIM MOC.
CME that Earns MOC: FAQ about earning MOC points for accredited CME activities.
ABIM Media Inquiries:
Erin Frantz
Press@abim.org
ACCME Media inquiries
Tamar Hosansky
312-245-4066
thosansky@accme.org
Patty Harrison
312-245-4054
pharrison@accme.org
CME Provider Inquiries
ABIM Board Certified Doctors Make a Difference
Internists and subspecialists who earn and maintain board certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) differentiate themselves every day through their specialized knowledge and commitment to continual learning in service of their patients. Established as an independent nonprofit more than 80 years ago, ABIM continues to be driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world. Visit ABIM's blog to learn more and follow ABIM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. ABIM is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
About ACCME
The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) is a nonprofit organization based in Chicago, responsible for accrediting institutions that offer continuing medical education (CME) and for recognizing state medical societies as accreditors of local CME programs.
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 nearly 1,900 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 more than 148,000 activities each year, comprising more than one million hours of instruction and including more than 26 million interactions with physicians and other healthcare professionals.
For more information, visit www.accme.org. You can also follow the ACCME on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.