If you are anything like the members of the Almanac Editorial Board, you get more emails than you have the capacity to process. However, we unanimously agreed that there is one email you need to notice and act upon: ACCME Call for Comments on Accredited Education Delivered via Online and Social Media Platforms

Responses are due no later than Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. CT.

Why is it important to answer every ACCME Call for Comments?

Here are five reasons why you should respond to every ACCME Call for Comments:

1. You may not think this is relevant to your organization. Perhaps your organization is not accredited by the ACCME. Keep in mind, you may see implications down the road if your organization shifts its strategy. There can also be other unexpected downstream effects. For example, organizations accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) previously were not under the ACCME’s Standards of Integrity and Independence, and so they might not have responded to that Call for Comments. However, as of Jan. 1, 2023, the AOA has adopted the new Standards. So, review the elements in the call and provide feedback that would ensure your organization’s interests are represented. 
    
2. The Call for Comments will give you insight into potential changes by the ACCME. Writing a response will give your organization time to socialize the changes, and if you need to adapt and adjust, your stakeholders will be better prepared. For example, if you currently upload videos to YouTube and use those videos in accredited content, you should check the permissions. Also, you might need to add “shopping for a new video platform” to your to-do list in the future.
    
3. The ACCME may use the responses to substantiate new requirements or criteria, so be sure your voice is included. With the new Accreditation with Commendation requirements, ACCME pointed to the number of providers who responded positively to a Call for Comments asking about current practices for collecting performance data. This data was used to explain why the new Improves Performance criterion (formerly Criterion 36) was introduced.
    
4. Your input may represent other voices that are unable to submit a response. As we noted, there are likely many other tasks on your plate that seem important and urgent. Others who might have a similar response to yours may be on vacation, have ill family members, have organizational barriers or a million other reasons that they cannot respond.
    
5. Finally, and most importantly, we have a responsibility to the profession, present and future. The Alliance’s Code of Ethics states, “CE professionals participate as essential stakeholders in the legal, regulatory and ethical framework that governs the continuing education enterprise.” This is that.

Click here to read the Call for Comments and respond.