CME Resources Continuing Medical Education

The ACCME and the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) have collaborated to simplify the integration of Maintenance of Certification (MOC) and accredited CME. We formed this collaboration to expand the number and diversity of accredited CME activities that offer ABIM MOC points, and to streamline the process for registering CME activities in ABIM's MOC program. We developed the collaboration in response to requests from physicians and accredited CME providers.

New! Archived Webinar: Submitting Participant Data in PARS for ABIM’s MOC Program

The ACCME and ABIM hosted a webinar on January 7, 2016, from 12:30 pm–2:00 pm Central time to review the process for submitting participant data for ABIM’s MOC program in PARS and to answer your questions. An archived version of this webinar is now available to register activities for ABIM's MOC program.

• As part of this registration process, providers attest to compliance with requirements for the ABIM Medical Knowledge Assessment Recognition Program, agree to collect the required individual participant completion data and submit it via PARS, agree to abide by ABIM/ACCME requirements for use of the data, agree to allow ACCME to publish data about the activity on ACCME’s website, and agree to comply with requests for information about the activity if it is selected for an MOC audit by the ACCME.
• The ABIM MOC registration process is available for all CME providers in the ACCME System, including state-accredited providers, providers directly accredited by the ACCME, and providers that have received Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education™.
• This collaboration offers additional choices but no new ACCME requirements. CME providers in the ACCME System have the option—but are not required—to offer accredited CME that meets ABIM's MOC program requirements and to submit activity and participant completion data through PARS to ABIM.

CME\MOC Badge

Along with the ABIM MOC Statement, accredited providers within the ACCME System are welcome to use the CME\MOC badge to identify and promote CME activities that are registered for ABIM MOC points. Use of the badge is optional and may appear on any activity materials, brochures, and announcements that promote CME activities that also earn MOC points. Accredited providers may determine the size and placement of the badge; however providers are not permitted to make changes to the badge. Please note that use of the MOC statement is mandatory, as described in the ABIM Medical Knowledge Assessment Recognition Program.

Resources: Overview and Activity Registration

Submit Participant Management in PARS

CME providers can now submit participant data in PARS for ABIM’s MOC program. Accredited providers are required to submit participant data for each activity registered as meeting ABIM’s Medical Knowledge Assessment Recognition Program requirements via PARS.

Participant Management Data: Important Points and Timelines

• For activities that participants completed in 2015, CME providers may submit participant data by through March 31, 2016 (the same deadline as for CME providers’ year-end reporting). Please note: ABIM’s Maintenance of Certification year ends on December 31 of each year. In order for CME activities to count toward physicians’ MOC requirements, ABIM will need to receive completion data by December 31. However, ABIM will still accept completion information for activities completed in 2015 through March 31, 2016 and the MOC points earned for those activities will continue to count toward the 100 total that ABIM Board Certified physicians must earn every five years.
• For activities that participants completed in 2014 only, CME providers will need to submit participation data by June 30, 2016.
• For activities that participants complete in 2016, CME providers may submit participant data through March 31, 2017. We encourage CME providers to submit participant data as soon as possible after the activity is completed, so that ABIM can apply the points to physicians’ records. Please note: Some ABIM Board Certified physicians may need to complete MOC requirements by December 31, 2016. In order for the CME activities to count toward those requirements, ABIM will need to receive completion data by December 31, 2016. ABIM will still accept completion information for activities completed in 2016 through March 31, 2017 and the MOC points earned for those activities will continue to count toward the 100 total that ABIM Board Certified physicians must earn every five years.
• CME providers working with ABIM prior to the ABIM-ACCME partnership launched on September 30: Any activity for which you have a unique alpha-numeric ABIM module code and are currently using the old ABIM web service, you may continue to submit participant completion data through the ABIM web service. However, beginning in 2017, ABIM will discontinue use of its web service and all participant completion data must be submitted through PARS.
• Submission methods include web services (see more information below), batch upload, and manual data entry.
• Provisional validation process: When you submit participant completion data, PARS will verify the participant’s ABIM ID and birth date, and if verified, will transmit the record to ABIM for validation. You will be able to see that PARS has changed the status of the participant record from “submitted” to “accepted.” If any participant records are rejected during the validation process, the ACCME will be notified, and we will contact providers to address the issue. We implemented this provisional validation process to expedite the process of physicians receiving credits during the initial implementation phase. The process will be changed in the near future so that the status of the participant record will be changed to “accepted” only after the ABIM completes its validation process.