2020 will bring a new fee structure from the ACCME for their annual accreditation fee.  This is in response to suggestions from the CME community to distribute fees among programs of different sizes.

There will be four tiers of fees in the new structure.  Tier 1 will be the smaller programs, up to Tier 4 being the largest.  Accredited programs will provide the average activities per year and average learner interactions per year and the largest tier in which you fall will determine the fees your program will pay.  The fees will range from Tier 1 at $5,900 per year up to $10,000 per year at Tier 4.  Tier 2 is $6,500 per year and Tier 3 will be $7,500 per year.

Data is calculated from the Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS) from 2016-2018.

This new fee structure does NOT impact other fees such as extensions, pre-applications and initial accreditation. 

According to the ACCME, "Mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the hospital and health system sector, mean that large organizations consolidate the accreditation of multiple smaller CME programs under one umbrella. This trend is reducing the number of providers and driving greater size disparity among providers."

In addition, "We [the ACCME] rely on annual accreditation fees as our major source (69 percent) of yearly revenue. We operate with a closely balanced, conservative budget, using our revenues to achieve our strategic goals. After careful deliberations and analysis of our data, the ACCME executive leadership and Board of Directors determined that implementing a tiered accreditation fee structure is necessary to allow us to continue to fulfill our strategic responsibilities."

More information about this change can be found online at http://accme.org/highlights/accme-implements-new-tiered-structure-for-annual-accreditation-fee.

NAMEC members can discuss this at our online forum.