CME (Continuing Medical Education) is the program through which every healthcare professional ensures the updating and maintenance of their knowledge/skills to keep pace with medical-scientific innovations. As the quality level of a professional’s performance improves, so does the service to the patient citizen. This virtuous process generates continuous improvement in healthcare organizations and their ability to respond to the changing demands of the healthcare system. The Ministry of Health, Regions, and Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano are accrediting bodies, each entitled, within their territorial scope, to accredit providers that deliver training events for healthcare personnel and issue CME credits to professionals involved in training, subject to verification of compliance with requirements. Healthcare operators have a professional obligation to apply the new knowledge and skills acquired through the CME program to provide qualitatively useful assistance. The extent of the professional’s commitment to professional development is expressed in CME credits.
The CME-CPD system (Continuing Medical Education – Continuous Professional Development) of the Lombardy Region has been for years the most advanced model in the national landscape, chosen initially in 2004 based on the accreditation of public and private providers delivering healthcare provision and services. The key element of regional accreditation, in addition to possessing institutional and organizational requirements, is the provider’s ability to construct a training plan, based on the concept of competence, a synthesis of professional and organizational needs. This is professional accreditation based on Continuous Professional Development (CPD). The Lombardy Region – General Welfare Directorate is the accrediting body governing the CME-CPD system. The managing entities are PoliS-Lombardia and ARIA Spa.
The Regional Commission for continuous training and the Regional Observatory for the quality of continuous medical education complete the framework of actors in the system. These two bodies were reconstituted by the Lombardy Region (Decreto regionale n. 9280 del 26/06/2019) to strengthen the governance of the CME-CPD system. Specifically, the ECM Commission contributes to the new developments of the system in line with regional strategic planning, while the CME Observatory fosters the implementation of the integrated control system in the territory.
From June 2024 on, AnciLab is part of the ECM system.
