If you’ve ever dealt with the ACGME, you know how complicated and vague GME requirements can seem. Just like the IRS or Joint Commission, standards and requirements serve a very important purpose but can seem overwhelming and unattainable.
That’s why using a GME Consulting Expert can be so valuable. Just as you visit with a financial advisor to help you parse through complicated IRS and financial regulations, a GME Accreditation Consultant can walk you through ACGME accreditation standards and expectations while educating you on best practices.
The Best Reasons to Use a GME Accreditation Consultant
If you’re thinking about hiring a GME Accreditation Consultant, here are 10 reasons you should consider:
1. Remain in compliance—and do it right the first time.
Falling out of compliance involves citations, site visits, potential adverse outcomes, special reviews, and increased scrutiny by the ACGME and your stakeholders.
Using a Partners GME Consultant in the beginning stages of program development will ensure you protect the investment of time and resources and get it right the first time.
2. Rely on tried-and-true best practices.
When you hire a GME Accreditation Consultant, you don’t have to worry about reinventing the wheel. Instead, your consultant brings a wealth of experience from a variety of different sponsoring institution settings and will apply those insights, lessons, and GME-specific templates to your program.
3. A reliable source of ongoing education.
GME Accreditation Consultants specialize in GME accreditation education and we at Partners are no exception. Working with multiple specialties and GME professionals, consultants can provide real-world solutions and best practices to your program.
Your Partners consultant, who knows and understands your program, can make immediate recommendations and keep you abreast of the latest updates, giving you a jump start on meeting new requirements for rolling out updated policies, revamping current processes in GME accreditation, and educating you while you work together.
4. Have a seasoned expert in your back pocket while building an advisory relationship.
Changes happen within GME frequently and falling behind could create additional catch-up work and affect future accreditation.
Working with a Partners consultant over time can give you access to an expert who is just as passionate and invested in your program’s success as you are and mindful of the circumstances that make your program unique.
Shifting priorities in GME at the national, regional and local levels can be confusing. A seasoned Partners consultant can help you keep up with new and emerging trends and their impact on the future of medical education.
5. Support as you establish new GME programs.
Working toward accreditation is time-consuming and stressful. It’s even more challenging when you’re trying to develop a program and are also actively working clinically.
A consultant has been through the hard work of starting a new program, brings knowledge and experience to ease the burden of starting a new program, and alerts you to potential pitfalls with your specialty.
For example, if you decide to begin a new ACGME residency program, a Partners consultant can provide development support and guidance for:
Feasibility of proposed specialty- Curriculum and rotation schedules
- Evaluations
- Goals and Objectives
- Patient volume and variety
- Interpretation of established ACGME requirements
- Education on accreditation expectations
- Faculty and staff requirements
6. Experienced insight and guidance with an expert on speed dial.
As GME programs frequently experience coordinator and program support turnover, an experienced consultant can provide mentorship for new DIOs, program directors, coordinators and GME office personnel so they can start the job off on the right path.
At Partners in Medical Education, our consultants provide convenient, relevant education in the form of hour-long online GME training sessions that cover the hot topics in GME and accelerate GME worker knowledge and growth.
7. Your GME team has a lack of experience and resources.
Unfortunately, GME accreditation isn’t something you can learn in school, though training sessions are available! Instead, it’s something learned on the job through day-to-day operations.
A Partners consultant can quickly teach the latest updates to you and your team, help you understand the requirements, and identify areas for faculty and administrative development.
8. Validation of your advice.
You might be the hospital expert on ACGME requirements, but that doesn’t mean people will automatically respect your opinions. In fact, sometimes you need an outside expert to convince your team that your GME recommendations are on the correct track!
A Partners GME consultant can provide that unbiased perspective that may be hard for your team to hear but vital for the success of your program.
9. Gain an outsider’s unbiased perspective.
We frequently see two different scenarios when an outsider’s perspective is most valuable.
In the first, a DIO, an administrator, or a program director feels like they’re so close to the problem, they can’t see any other solutions.
In the second, the outsider’s unbiased perspective is valuable when the DIO, the administrator, or the program director is competing against internal politics.
A Partners GME consultant is a neutral third party who can remind the C-Suite, GMEC, and others that requirements are there to be followed and provide recommendations for resolving conflicts within programs.
10. You may lack the time to accomplish everything on your own.
For many of the DIOs, administrators, program directors and coordinators we work with, accreditation is only one of the dozens of responsibilities they cover every day. Although these professionals are extremely talented and knowledgeable in their field, becoming an expert in ACGME is challenging. Outsourcing that responsibility to an experienced Partners consultant removes much of that burden and provides the education and direction to become proficient in GME.
Access GME Support
At Partners in Medical Education, we understand exactly how challenging building and maintaining a GME program or Sponsoring Institution can be. That’s why our expert GME Consultants are ready to assist you on every level! Contact us to learn how to get started.