La acreditación de la formación médica continuada y la mejora de la calidad. Situación actual en España y en el ámbito internacional

Abstract

The main goal of Continuing Medical Education (CME) accreditation is to improve the supply of CME. Therefore, CME accreditation can decisively contribute to healthcare quality assurance through maintaining and improving physicians’ competence. The accreditation system of the Catalan Council for CME was implemented in 1997 and that of the Spanish Commission of Continuing Education in 1998. Since then, most of the Autonomous Regions of Spain have created their own Commissions and currently 9 of them are accrediting CE events. The Spanish Accreditation Council for CME (SACCME) was created in 2003 and its members include the Spanish Medical Association, the Spanish Federation of Medical and Scientific Societies, the Spanish Council of Medical Specialties, and the Spanish Assembly of Deans of Medical Schools. The most widely recognized international CME accreditation systems are the Accreditation Council for CME of the United States, which provides institutional accreditation, and the American Medical Association's accreditation system for CME events. The situation in Europe is highly variable. In the last few years the European Accreditation Council for CME (EACCME) has been implemented by the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS), with the aim of making it the reference system for EU countries. The Spanish Medical Association has signed an agreement with the UEMS for the mutual recognition of CME credits awarded by the SACCME and EACCME.