Accreditation for learning and change: quality and improvement as the outcome

Increased accountability for facilitating and demonstrating the continued competence of physicians and improvements in the quality of health care are being called for by government, the public, and organized medicine. Areas of critical skills have been identified by the Institute of Medicine, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and the American Board of Medical Specialties. These "competencies" serve as the framework around which medical school curricula, residency programs, and continuing medical education (CME) can be built. Much discussion revolves around the reform of CME, and the organizations most involved have developed innovative plans and initiatives to ensure that CME is optimally positioned to support physicians in learning and change. The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) supports a new and expanded role for the CME provider in physicians' lifelong learning, including periodic self-assessment and practice performance improvement. CME providers can assist in the determination of need (self-assessment) by the physician, the delivery of education to meet that need, and the evaluation of education used to meet the need, especially as it relates to the practice performance of the physician. The ACCME, working with accredited providers, has embraced these expectations and believes that CME can meet these challenges with an approach that also expects independence from commercial interests and freedom from commercial bias. The CME enterprise is uniquely positioned to deliver effective education for learning and change.