The Potomac Center for Medical Education (“PCME”) was awarded Accreditation with Commendation as a provider of Continuing Medical Education (CME) by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). PCME, the accredited division of Rockpointe Corporation (“Rockpointe”), is also accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), to provide continuing education to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. PCME is a leader in CME and aims to have the highest impact on healthcare by improving physician practice, and subsequently, improving patient outcomes. This achievement grants PCME accreditation through July 2018.
“PCME is honored to receive this recognition and we are proud of our role in providing the highest quality continuing education in a number of therapeutic areas,” said Jay Katz, CEO of Rockpointe. “This recognition underscores PCME’s true mission to change physician behavior and enhance physician knowledge through cutting edge CME programs so that patients can receive better care and healthcare providers remain informed on the latest breakthroughs, clinical information, and treatments.”
Accreditation with Commendation is earned by a small but growing cadre of applicants, and is ACCME’s highest accreditation award status. PCME demonstrated compliance across all 22 of ACCME’s accreditation criteria, signifying PCME’s commitment to CME excellence, which underscores the educational programs PCME designs to improve physician knowledge, competence, performance, and patient outcomes. PCME is one of only a handful of for-profit medical education providers to receive Accreditation with Commendation; the overwhelming majorities are academic medical centers and medical societies.
In a letter from ACCME Chief Executive Murray Kopelow, M.D., he gratulated PCME on “this significant achievement in CME” and commended PCME for their “commitment to excellence.” Kopelow recognized that PCME has “demonstrated an engagement with your environment in support of physician learning and change that is part of a system for quality improvement.” One ACCME reviewer recognized that PCME “integrates into its activities learning strategies and quality assessment tools that aid physicians in translating what they learn into their respective clinical practices”
In order to be awarded Accreditation with Commendation, accredited providers must demonstrate compliance with the ACCME’s base criteria 1-15, as well as the ACCME’s commendation criteria 16-22. PCME’s CME program is built on an instructional design process that identifies barriers and through collaboration, engages with the larger healthcare system to improve quality and the professional practice of physicians. For example, physicians who participated in a live, half-day, case-based, multi-format CME workshop, created by Rockpointe and accredited by PCME, were 50% more likely to provide evidence-based care for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than those who did not participate. These results were published in the International Journal of COPD and the outcomes were also presented at Chest 2010, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians.
Additionally, physicians who attended a live, highly intensive, case-based educational initiative created by Rockpointe and accredited by PCME were 52% more likely to practice guideline-driven and evidence-based medicine for hypertension than those who did not participate in the CME activity. The outcomes of this successful program were published in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension. These two programs are just a few examples of how PCME’s programs improve patient outcomes, as well as change physician behavior.
With more than 15 years of experience ensuring successful program implementation and outcomes measurement, PCME’s CME program employs Best Practice processes that guide design and implementation of CME content that links quality and education to practice improvement. The education developed is not only interactive and engaging, but rigorously reviewed to ensure objectivity, scientific rigor, and absence of commercial influence.
PCME’s CME-certified activities have the ability to reach physicians where they practice and treat patients, whether through grand rounds, local and regional meetings, meetings in conjunction with association meetings, or websites and journals (enduring education). PCME will certify over 500 local meetings in 2012 alone. PCME is honored to have achieved Accreditation with Commendation and will continue its dedication to excellence with each CME activity and each learner, as they strive to improve clinical behavior, one change at a time.