The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) announced the new Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education in December 2020. The goal of the new standards is to streamline, clarify and modernize existing standards, and ensure their continued relevance and effectiveness in the changing health care environment. 

ACCME has produced the following resources to support the continuing medical education (CME) community’s transition to the new standards. Providers will be expected to implement the new standards by January 1, 2022: 

• New Standards Webinar: The ACCME hosted a public webinar to answer questions about the new standards.
• 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 for implementation. 
• Video Introduction to the New Standards: This brief video provides an overview from Graham McMahon, M.D., MMSc, president and CEO of ACCME 

You have may have noticed that the standards changes refer to “accredited continuing education,” rather than “continuing medical education.” This is because the new standards were created and adopted by multiple health professions, so a more generic term of “continuing education” (CE) was agreed upon. This does not change that you are accredited to provide continuing medical education and you should continue to use the same accreditation statement as found in the California Medical Association CME Accreditation Requirements.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to cme@cmadocs.org.