What is CME?
Continuing Medical Education (CME) is defined as “educational activities that serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession” (source: ACCME and AMA).

Who is the ACCME?
The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, also known as the ACCME, is the organization that sets the standards for the accreditation of all providers of CME activities.

Who is the AMA?
The American Medical Association helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional and public health issues.

What types of activities qualify for CME certification?
A wide variety of educational activities qualify for CME certification, including, but not limited to:

• Live activities – lectures and meetings in which learners are physically or remotely present.
• Enduring Materials – activities based on recorded or published content (i.e., printed materials, CD-ROMs, audio CDs, DVDs, Internet presentations).
• Performance improvement CME – structured, long-term process by which a physician or group of physicians learn about specific performance measures, retrospectively assess their practice, participate in an intervention, apply these measures prospectively over an interval, and re-evaluate their performance

Additional information for accredited providers and physicians can be found here.

How do I obtain CME credit for my activity?
Contact the Beaumont Hospitals Department of CME at 248-551-0908 to discuss your activity.

How do I obtain nursing CE credits for my activity?
Contact the Beaumont Hospitals Department of Nursing Continuing Education at NursingContinuingEdRO@beamonthospitals.com or visit the nursing website.

How Are CME Hours Calculated for Live Activities?
CME credit is designated on an hour-for-hour basis, i.e., for every hour spent in a CME activity, learners receive 1 hour of CME credit.  Many CME conferences include scheduled breaks, business meetings, and other activities that do not qualify as CME. These hours are deducted from the total CME hours.

How Are CME Hours Calculated for Enduring Materials?
Since people complete self-study activities (ie, journal-based CME, self-tests, computer-based activities, video or audio tapes, etc) at their own pace, calculating CME hours can create a dilemma for the activity's sponsor. According to the ACCME, the sponsor of an enduring material should estimate the amount of time the average physician would take to complete the activity. William Beaumont Hospital calculates the estimate by conducting a pilot test of the materials.  This estimate becomes the designated maximum amount of CME credit for the activity.  

Is there a timeline for applying for credit?
For departmentally managed and jointly sponsored activities, application materials should be submitted at least two months prior to activity start date.  Credit may be denied if application materials are not submitted at least two months prior to activity start date.

What is the cost of applying for credit?
For departmentally managed and jointly sponsored seminars and enduring materials, a flat fee will be assessed.  Contact the Department of CME for specific pricing at 248-551-0908.  There is no fee for credit for regularly scheduled series. 

Educational Grants and Exhibits

Why do CME grant agreements need to indicate “William Beaumont Hospital” and not “Beaumont Hospitals”?
The official accredited CME provider is William Beaumont Hospital (see also ACCME Standard 3.4).

Is it okay for a pharmaceutical sales representative to bring in food for a grand rounds session?
No, pharmaceutical sales representatives or representatives of medical product/device manufacturers cannot pay directly for the food. However, they can provide an educational grant to William Beaumont Hospital in support of the food costs (see ACCME Standard 3).

A pharmaceutical company has offered to provide an educational grant to cover the speaker's honorarium, and they will "take care of the speaker's travel." Is this okay?
No, the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support require that all support from commercial interests be provided to the accredited CME provider in the form of an educational grant (see ACCME Standards 3.8 and 3.9).

Can a pharmaceutical company choose who will speak at my department’s meeting?
No, it is up to the Activity Director to identify and select appropriate topics and speakers for their CME activity based upon the target audience's educational needs (see ACCME Standard 1.1).

A pharmaceutical company has provided an educational grant to support a grand rounds session that is certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. The company has signed a grant agreement to cover the meeting expenses; one of the sales representative wants to give a short presentation on the company's newest product at the beginning (or end) of the session…is this allowed?
No, CME providers cannot allow representatives of Commercial Interests to engage in sales or promotional activities while in the space or place of the CME activity – before, during, or after the activity (see ACCME Standard 4.3).

Are commercial support and exhibits the same thing?
No.  Commercial support (grants) and exhibit fees are different.  Commercial support is defined as financial, or in-kind, contributions given by a commercial interest, which is used to pay all or part of the costs of a CME activity (education).  Conversely, exhibitors pay you a fee for the sole purpose of purchasing exhibit space (promotion).

May attendee contact information be shared with exhibitors?
Contact information must not be shared with exhibitors unless the participant has given prior approval.

Are pharmaceutical representatives allowed to attend CME activities?
Marketing/sales representatives of the health care industry are allowed to attend educational activities sponsored by William Beaumont Hospital for the explicit purpose of furthering their own knowledge.  Representatives must not engage in any sales or marketing practices while in attendance.

Would Beaumont Hospitals consider bringing a CME activity to our county or community?
Contact the Department of CME at 248-551-0908 to discuss community outreach opportunities.