The ACCME's Mission is the identification, development, and promotion of standards for quality continuing medical education (CME) utilized by physicians in their maintenance of competence and incorporation of new knowledge to improve quality medical care for patients and their communities.

The ACCME fulfills its mission through a voluntary self-regulated system for accrediting CME providers and a peer-review process responsive to changes in medical education and the health care delivery system.

For companies looking to become Accredited Continuing Education providers for Physicians, it is important to know what is expected.

FIRST TIME APPLICANTS APPLYING FOR ACCREDITATION
Accreditation Process
Getting Started - What You Need to Know
For first-time, or "initial" applicants, the accreditation process takes twelve to eighteen months. 87% of initial applicants are successful in achieving ACCME accreditation. If your organization is considering applying for ACCME initial accreditation, there are several factors you should consider in determining whether ACCME accreditation is right for you:

Purpose of ACCME Accreditation:
ACCME accreditation is a mark of quality continuing medical education ("CME") activities that are planned, implemented and evaluated by ACCME accredited providers in accordance with ACCME's Essential Areas and Elements and Accreditation Policies ("Accreditation Requirements"). ACCME accreditation assures the medical community and the public that such activities provide physicians with information that can assist them in maintaining or improving their practice of medicine. These activities are free of commercial bias and based on valid content.

Purpose of ACCME:
ACCME is the organization that sets educational standards for CME activities, and monitors its accredited providers' adherence to those standards. ACCME accredits organizations, and does not accredit individual activities. Un-accredited organizations that would like to partner with an ACCME accredited provider in the provision of quality CME can enter into joint sponsorship with an accredited organization.

It is important to note that ACCME does not reward the continuing educational accomplishments of individual physicians. Rather, those accomplishments are rewarded by other organizations which, for example, require physicians to complete a certain amount and/or type of CME for membership or re-licensure. As such, CME providers are not ACCME accredited for the purpose of granting credit. The requirements for granting credit are maintained by the other organizations themselves. Since different credentialing bodies have varying requirements, CME providers should be aware of the requirements of the particular credentialing body for which credit is being granted.