ACCME Announces New Standards for Integrity and Independence for Accredited Continuing Education

Yesterday, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) announced new Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. These Standards are designed to ensure that accredited continuing medical education (CME) continues to provide healthcare professionals with accurate, balanced, and evidence-based information that supports safe and effective patient care.

The new standards evolve out of the Standards for Commercial Support: Standards to Ensure Independence in CME Activities℠, which were first adopted in 1992 and then updated in 2004. The new standards were developed over the course of two years through dialogue and consensus-building with stakeholders with the goal of streamlining, clarifying, and modernizing the Standards, and to ensure their continued relevance and effectiveness in the changing healthcare environment.

The new Standards have been adopted by the below accrediting bodies that represent multiple health professions:

• Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)
• Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)
• American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
• American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
• Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry’s Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (ARBO/COPE)
• Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education

Independence from industry is a critical part of accredited CME. By pulling together and agreeing upon these Standards, the accrediting bodies stand together and send a message of the importance of high-quality learning experiences and protecting CME events from industry bias and marketing.

Some changes to the standards include:

• Extending the disclosure period for faculty conflicts of interest from 12 months to 24 months.
• The requirement that individuals disclose the financial relationships of their spouse/partner was
  removed.
• For live meetings using the same meeting room or online room, the ACCME requires a 30 minute break between accredited and marketing or non accredited activities.
• Providers have the burden to determine what constitutes a relevant conflict of interest for their faculty.

The ACCME removed a proposed requirement prohibiting joint providers from paying or reimbursing faculty expenses.

Providers in the ACCME System (ACCME-accredited, state-accredited, and jointly accredited providers) will be expected to implement the new Standards by January 1, 2022.

Webinar and Resources 

To assist the CME community in making a successful transition to the new standards, ACCME has produced the below resources.

• New Standards Webinar: On January 11, 2021, at 1 PM CT, the ACCME will hold a free webinar about the new standards. If you’re interested, you can register here.
• New Standards Info Package: ACCME created a PDF with an overview and the full text of the new standards, as well as the transition timeline and links to resources.
• New Standards Implementation Toolkit: This PDF includes sample forms, templates, and checklists for CME providers to use in implementing the new standards.
• Video Introduction to the New Standards: This brief video provides an overview from Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, President and CEO, ACCME.
• New Standards Resources Webpage: All ACCME resources regarding the new standards will be maintained here for CME providers.

Statements from the Accrediting Bodies

Leadership from each of the accrediting bodies released a statement in support of the new Standards.

“Trust is core to the value of accredited continuing education. Clinicians, patients, and the public must be able to trust that accredited education is delivering meaningful, scientifically accurate content, free from industry manipulation and influence. With the evolved Standards, we, as a community of educators and accrediting bodies, reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that healthcare professionals have access to relevant, timely, efficient, and effective education that is balanced, evidence-based, and insulated from industry bias. The ACCME and the community of educational organizations we accredit stand with clinicians and will continue to deliver on our promise to offer trusted learning that helps them provide safe, effective, and compassionate care.”—Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, President and CEO, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)

“ACPE is pleased to support the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. These Standards help our accredited providers achieve the highest principles in providing continuing education to our constituents.”—Jan Engle, PharmD, PhD (HON), FAPhA, FCCP, FNAP, Executive Director, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)

“Clinicians can now rely on accredited continuing education to be free from any type of promotion. The AAFP is proud to be part of the journey to evolve and harmonize the Standards to better safeguard education for learners without creating administrative burden for continuing education provider organizations.”—Amy Smith, MBA, Director CPD Accreditation, American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)

“The ANCC Nursing Continuing Professional Development Accreditation program is proud to have been engaged in developing the new Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Aligning the key areas of content integrity standards across accreditors in the health care professions ensures that accredited continuing education is designed, implemented, and evaluated free from commercial bias and influence. This opportunity fosters acceptance and alignment of content integrity principles, including creating an environment where accredited providers of continuing education in the healthcare professions can collaborate to deliver high-quality continuing professional development through streamlined processes.”—Jennifer Graebe MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Director, Nursing Continuing Professional Development & Joint Accreditation Program, American Nurses Credentialing Center-Accreditation (ANCC)

“We are pleased to join other CE/CME accreditors in adopting the new Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Having uniformity in the principles and requirements of accredited CE/CME is valuable so learners can be assured educational programs meet consistent, high standards regardless of their profession. Joining the ACCME and other accreditors in adopting the Standards for Integrity and Independence will allow COPE to continue to provide independent CE that is free from bias and to maintain our focus on the health and well-being of patients.”—Lisa Fennell, Executive Director, Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry (ARBO)/Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE)

“Patients and families have the right to expect that their healthcare teams will make care recommendations that are based on science, not marketing. Joint Accreditation includes accreditors from 10 health professions, and we are proud to adopt the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Although each health profession represents different perspectives and experiences, we are united in our commitment to ensuring that healthcare education by the team, for the team serves the public trust.” —Kathy Chappell, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN; Kate Regnier, MA, MBA; Dimitra Travlos, PharmD, Cofounders, Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education.

In the coming days we will have a full analysis of the changes to the Standards for Commercial Support.  In addition the CME Coalition will be hosting a webinar in early January.