As a result of our conversations during past CME Coalition monthly meetings on the subject, the CME Coalition submitted public comments today in response to certain proposed policies included in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed rule on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for calendar year (CY) 2023.

The CME Coalition expressed our strong support for the addition of national CME accrediting organizations and providers as new third-party intermediaries able to directly report clinician completion of accredited CME and/or Maintenance of Certification (MOC)
improvement activities for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Value Pathways. As discussed in more detail in the attached letter, we communicated that we believe the inclusion of CME organizations as a third-party intermediary in this capacity would allow for reduced clinician burden as well as a heightened clinician focus on patient care, particularly with regard to metrics of priority to CMS.

The CME Coalition held a virtual webinar on June 29, 2022 following the issuance of its new compliance guide, Independent Medical Education (IME) Compliance Guide, for use by accredited CME providers and commercial supporters. The IME compliance guide additionally contains FAQS for non-accredited activities. The CME Coalition has produced this compliance guide and FAQs in response to numerous questions it has received regarding: (1) the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, which have been adopted by several accrediting bodies; and (2) best practices for education providers and the industry to consider for non-accredited educational activities.

If you or any of your colleagues were unable to attend the webinar, its contents have been recorded and can be played back at anytime using this link. The passcode to access the recording is: 91TR*Q0v. You can also download a copy of the slide deck here when available. 
 
We hope you find this to be a valuable resource. Importantly, although the CME Coalition developed these FAQs in cooperation with our legal counsel, the document should not be constituted as binding legal advice from the CME Coalition, as the individual facts of any situation are likely to be unique.
 
If you have yet to obtain the IME Compliance Guide, you can request a copy of the guide via our website. 

Please reach out to Brittany Argote (bargote@thornrun.com) with any questions.

The CME Coalition has issued a new compliance guide, Independent Medical Education (IME) Compliance Guide, for use by accredited CME providers and commercial supporters. The IME compliance guide additionally contains FAQS for non-accredited activities.

On Thursday, January 12, 2022, the Alliance Annual Conference brought our community of health care continuing medical education professionals together both virtually and in Aurora, Colorado.

In conjunction with this event, the CME Coalition held its annual policy reception, where we showcased the Coalition's accomplishments in 2021 and discussed our goals for the year ahead. 

Slides presented during this policy reception can be found below. 

The CME Coalition has submitted public comments on the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) reconsideration of mandatory opioid prescriber education through a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) to urge the FDA to consider the full scope and ramifications of implementing such a requirement. While the CME Coalition respects required education, we agree with the vast majority of presenters at the FDA's meeting on this subject who believe that required Opioid REMS is not a workable solution to the opioid crisis.

​On September 21, CME Coalition Senior Advisor Andy Rosenberg presented an update on behalf of the CME Coalition at Inform Connect’s Annual Med Ed & Grants (Virtual) Summit. His presentation slides can be found here. 

​In a letter to Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), the CME Coalition endorsed a bill that would provide new grant funding for CME in rural and underserved areas. Introduced in the Senate on February 2, 2021, the Improving Access to Health Care in Rural and Underserved Areas Act (S. 201) would direct the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to award up to 100 grants for providing accredited CME to federally qualified health centers (FQHC) or rural health clinics (RHC). 

​On September 15, 2021, the Continuing Medical Education (CME) Coalition penned a letter of support to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) endorsing the Lower Costs, More Cures Act of 2021 (H.R. 19). Introduced in the House on April 22, this bill includes a provision that would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to advance education and awareness among health providers regarding biosimilars, including by developing and improving continuing education programs