An Early Evaluation of Remote Site Visits for ACGME Program Applications

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, accreditation site visit interviews occurred in-person. In response to the pandemic, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) developed a remote site visit protocol.

To perform an early assessment of the remote accreditation site visits for programs applying for initial ACGME accreditation.

A cohort of residency and fellowship programs that had remote site visits was evaluated from June to August 2020. Surveys were sent to program personnel, ACGME accreditation field representatives, and executive directors following the site visits. Comparison of accreditation decisions (Initial Accreditation or Accreditation Withheld) was completed for matched residency or fellowship programs having in-person site visits in 2019.

Surveys were sent to all program personnel from the 58 residency and fellowship programs that had remote site visits for new program applications, as well as the accreditation field representatives who performed the remote visits. The survey response rate was 58% (352 of 607). Ninety-one percent of all respondents were extremely or very confident that remote site visits provided a thorough assessment of proposed residency or fellowship programs. Fifty-four programs having remote site visits were matched by specialty to programs having had in-person program application site visits in 2019. Forty-six programs that had remote site visits received Initial Accreditation, and 52 programs that had in-person site visits in 2019 received Initial Accreditation (P=.093, 95% CI 0.91-22.38).

Most program personnel and accreditation field representatives were confident that remote site visits conducted for program applications provided fair and thorough assessments of the program.