The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) sent a news release to all continuing medical education (CME) providers on December 10, 2020, announcing the New Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. The standards have been adopted by six accrediting bodies representing multiple health professions. As a California Medical Association (CMA)-accredited provider, your organization will be required to implement the new standards by January 1, 2022.

To help understand these changes, both CMA and ACCME will support you with webinars and resources throughout the coming year. We encourage you to attend the ACCME New Standards Webinar on Monday, January 11, 2021. In this webinar, ACCME will explain what is new, crosswalk the standards, and the implementation strategy. CMA will provide additional education directly to you throughout 2021.

The new standards are streamlined, modernized, re-organized based on applicability, policies and definitions are integrated into the standards for clarity, and include new terms.

Additionally, the ACCME Accreditation Criteria are now reorganized! The Core Accreditation Criteria (formerly Criteria 1–13) are reorganized and grouped into topic areas to better reflect the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycle, which is the foundation of the criteria. We refer to these as the core criteria to differentiate them from the commendation criteria. These are now named by keywords rather than numbers.

New Standards Webinar and Resources 

ACCME has produced resources to support the continuing education community’s successful transition to the new Standards. 

• New Standards Webinar: The ACCME will hold a free webinar, open to all, on January 11, 2021, at 1 p.m. Central (11 a.m. Pacific). Register here. 
• New Standards Info Package: This PDF includes an overview and full text of the new standards, transition timeline, and links to resources.
• New Standards Resources Webpage: This webpage aggregates resources for continuing education providers.
• New Standards Implementation Toolkit: This PDF includes sample forms, templates, and checklists.
• Video Introduction to the New Standards: This brief video provides an overview from Graham McMahon, M.D., MMSc, President and CEO, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)
• View the announcement on the ACCME website.

CMA is committed to supporting you during the transition with education and responding to your questions. We recognize that the pandemic has affected us all and want to assure you that CMA stands by you. As always, reach out with any questions.