June 19, 2014

Vanderbilt’s Continuing Medical Education efforts lauded

Vanderbilt’s Division of Continuing Medical Education (CME) has received an Accreditation with Commendation from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

The designation is awarded to providers of continuing medical education that demonstrate compliance in all accreditation criteria and policies, with particular emphasis on becoming engaged in quality improvement and patient safety initiatives.

“This commendation from the AACME recognizes the outstanding services our CME division has provided over the last decade,” said Bonnie Miller, M.D., associate vice chancellor for Health Affairs and senior associate dean for Health Sciences Education at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Importantly, this includes expert guidance for our faculty educators as they develop continuing education programs aimed at improving outcomes of patients cared for at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.”

The Division of CME was recently reorganized into the Office for Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

Vanderbilt is among the first group of medical schools to be recognized for implementing this new approach to CME. The accreditation period runs through March 2020.

“CME is now more focused on enhancing the competence and performance of physicians rather than just documenting the hours spent in a CME course,” said Don Moore, Ph.D., director of the Office for CPD. “We are changing the focus from just acquiring knowledge to applying what is learned in practice and helping physicians provide the best possible care to their patients.”

Moore said Vanderbilt is committed to incorporating the quality improvement perspective into CME courses.

“Everyone in organized medicine thinks that improving the quality of care and reducing health care costs in the U.S. is a high priority,” said Moore. “Traditional CME coursework has not been able to show that it contributes to meeting these concerns.”

“This newer approach involves collaboration with other areas in medicine like quality improvement and patient safety,” said Donald Brady, M.D., senior associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development. “CME can be a partner in the pursuit of these goals.”

Vanderbilt will begin piloting the increased use of clinical data to plan CME activities in July.

Evidence of participation in educational activities certified for CME credit helps physicians meet requirements for licensure, hospital credentialing and specialty board certification.