The MedChi Accredited Provider System is governed by the oversight of the Continuing Medical Education Review Committee (CMERC).  The MAP System is administered by the staff of the MedChi Department of Continuing Professional Development.  The role of CMERC is to accredit, assure, and promote continuing medical education of the highest quality for physicians in the State of Maryland and the region.

CMERC will accredit as intrastate Accredited CME Providers those local hospitals that primarily have continuing medical education programs limited to hospital staffs and physicians in the local community; medical organizations that do not have national scope, e.g., city, county medical societies; and local units of voluntary health agencies not under national administration for their continuing medical education programs.  Such intrastate sponsors may offer one CME activity per year that is national or regional in scope, i.e. advertised to an audience that goes beyond Maryland and bordering areas of surrounding states, with the permission of the CMERC.

An organization is not eligible for accreditation through the MAP System if its program is devoted to the advocacy of unscientific modalities of diagnosis or therapy.

CMERC bases the decision to accredit an institution upon its determination that the institution is substantially meeting the requirements of the ACCME’s Essential Areas, The Updated Criteria, the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support (SCS), Policies and the guidelines for awarding American Medical Association (AMA) Physician’s Recognition Award (PRA) Category 1 Credit.  The Essential Areas and the Updated Criteria, and SCS are set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) for the providers of continuing medical education. They are designed to ensure the quality and integrity of continuing medical education activities.  The ACCME was created and is governed by seven sponsoring organizations. Those organizations are the: American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association for Hospital Medical Education, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, and the Federation of State Medical Boards.

The AMA PRA recognizes physician participation in continuing medical education activities.  This program, established in 1968, recognizes physicians who, by participating in CME activities, demonstrate their commitment to straying current with advances in medicine.  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit offers a system to measure and track physician participation in certified CME activities.  AMA PRA credit is recognized and accepted by hospital credentialing bodies, state medical licensure boards and medical specialty certifying boards.  In the state of Maryland physicians are currently required by the Maryland Board of Physicians (the state licensure governing body) to complete a minimum of 50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits within the term of their license.