Through your use of UpToDate, you can obtain CME credit
and CE contact hours. This topic describes the types of credit that are
available and explains how to obtain credit.
To view our accreditation statement and a list of the types of
credit available, click here.
Users can receive CME/CE credit as follows:
MDs/DOs — For using UpToDate,
you earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credit that you can apply
toward your licensing requirements.
AAFP members —
For using UpToDate, you receive AMA PRA Category 1
Credit, which the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
has approved as AAFP Prescribed credit. You may earn 20 Prescribed
credits per year using UpToDate, and any credit earned over
those 20 credits may be used toward AAFP Elective credit.
AAP members — For
using UpToDate, you receive AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™,
which the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has approved as AAP
credit. You may earn up to 50 AAP credits per year using UpToDate.
ACEP members —
For using UpToDate, you receive AMA PRA Category 1
Credit™, which the American College of Emergency Physicians
(ACEP) has approved as ACEP Category I credit. You may earn up to 30
credits of ACEP Category I credit over a three-year period.
ACOG members —
For using UpToDate, you receive AMA PRA Category 1
Credit™, which the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(ACOG) has approved as ACOG cognate credit.
Physician Assistants
— According to AMA policy, AMA PRA Category 1
Credit can be awarded only to physicians (MDs and DOs). For using
UpToDate, you receive a certificate of participation that you
can use to document your activity. The American Academy of Physician
Assistants (AAPA) accepts this documentation toward the AAPA Category I
CME requirement.
Physicians of
Osteopathic Medicine — For using UpToDate, you receive AMA
PRA Category 1 Credit, which the American Osteopathic Association
(AOA) has approved as AOA Category 2-B credit.
Nurse Practitioners
— For using UpToDate, you earn AANP contact hours. You
can accrue up to 10 minutes of credit per topic per visit, which will
result in 0.167 contact hours (minimum certificate award must be at
least 15 minutes of learning or 0.25 contact hours).
As you use UpToDate, the system automatically creates a
monthly log of your clinical questions and topics viewed. The log
reflects the current status of your credits or contact hours.
To access your CME/CE credit log, do one of the following:
Click CME or CE on the toolbar (depending on your default setting).
Click the Access my available UpToDate CME/CE credits link in My Account.
For AMA PRA Category 1 Credit, you will see both completed
and potential credits. Completed credits reflect the searches for which
you have completed the three-step learning cycle. Potential credits are
those that can be fully accrued once you verify the application to
practice.
Specifying or changing your default CME/CE setting
Your default CME/CE setting determines the type of credit that
you receive from UpToDate. The default setting types are:
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit (AAFP Prescribed
credit, AAP credit, ACEP credit, ACOG cognate credit, AOA Category 2-B
credit)
AANP Nurse Practitioner Contact Hours
Physician Assistants and other non-MD/DO clinicians
Specifying your initial default setting
When you access your CME/CE credit log for the first time in
UpToDate online or for the first time after installing a new version of your
desktop computer software, the system prompts you to specify a default
CME/CE setting. Select the desired default setting, then click Continue.
Changing your default setting
Use the following procedure to change your default CME/CE
setting:
Do one of the following:
Click CME or CE on the
toolbar (depending on your current default setting), then click View/Change
My Settings in the navigation menu at left.
Click My Account on the toolbar, then click
the Change my default CME/CE settings link.
Completing the learning cycle for AMA PRA Category 1
Credit
To earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credit, you must
complete the three-step learning cycle required by the American
Medical Association.
For each month for which you want to earn credit, you must
complete the credit log by selecting options that describe the
application of your findings to practice. You may view and complete your
monthly credit logs at any time, either prior to or during the process
of submitting credits.
Verify your log and select the appropriate option for each
search to indicate how you applied the information to practice.
Note:
In some cases, the system pre-selects suggested application options,
based on your search term and the information in the selected topics;
in those instances, you need to verify that the suggested application
options are correct, and change them if they are not.
For CME credits — if you have not
already done so, you must complete the learning
cycle for each month for which you want to submit credits.
For CE contact hours — Proceed directly
to Step 3.
Click the box in the Submit column for each month that you
want to submit.
Click Continue.
UpToDate prompts you to complete and submit a CME/CE
evaluation.
After you submit the evaluation, review your submission
request and click Submit.
UpToDate displays a confirmation page. If you want to
view your certificate immediately in PDF format, click the View/Print
Certificate link on the confirmation page.
For CME credits — if you have not
already done so, you must complete the learning
cycle for each month for which you want to submit credits.
For CE contact hours — Proceed directly
to Step 3.
Click the box in the Submit column for each month that you
want to submit.
Click Continue.
Enter your online password and click Process
Online.
UpToDate uploads your desktop computer credits to your online
account.
If you want to continue processing your uploaded credits,
click Yes.
UpToDate online opens in a browser window.
After you accept the Subscription and License agreement, click
CME or CE on the toolbar (depending
on your default setting). Note that your online account reflects the
uploaded credits, as well as any that you have accrued through UpToDate
online.
UpToDate prompts you to complete and submit a CME/CE
evaluation.
After you submit the evaluation, review your submission
request and click Submit.
UpToDate displays a confirmation page. If you want to
view your certificate immediately in PDF format, click the View/Print
Certificate link on the confirmation page.
Submitting UpToDate desktop computer credits by mail
If your computer does not have an Internet connection, you must
submit your credit request by mail, as follows:
For CME credits — if you have not
already done so, you must complete the learning
cycle for each month for which you want to submit credits.
For CE contact hours — Proceed directly
to Step 3.
Click the box in the Submit column for each month that you
want to submit.
Click Continue.
Confirm that the correct number of credits is displayed in the
Indicate the number of credits you would like to receive box, then
click Process By Mail.
UpToDate displays a mailing address form.
After specifying any needed address information, click
Continue.
UpToDate prompts you to complete an evaluation form.
After completing the evaluation, click Submit.
UpToDate displays a submission form that includes your user
information, your credit log, and the evaluation that you completed.
Print the submission form and mail the entire form to UpToDate
at the indicated address for processing. We recommend that you keep a
copy for your records as well.
Viewing your past CME/CE submissions (online only)
To view your past CME/CE submissions, do one of the following:
Click CME or CE on the
toolbar (depending on your default setting), then click View
My Past Submissions in the navigation menu at left.
Click My Account on the toolbar, then click
the View my past CME/CE submissions link.
UpToDate displays a page that lists your past
submissions.
If you want to view or print your credit log or your certificate
for a particular submission, you can do so as follows:
To display your credit log for a particular submission, click
View/Print in the Log column for that submission. You
can use your browser's print facility to print a copy of the log.
To display your certificate for a particular submission, click
View/Print in the Certificate column for that
submission, then click Open in response to the prompt
that asks if you want to open or save the file. UpToDate
displays the certificate in a PDF file, from which you can print the
certificate.
For online credit certificates requested
after July 1, 2006 — View your past submissions
to see a list of submissions in order of date processed, with the
associated logs and certificates. By clicking the View/Print
link for a certificate, you can view a PDF version of the certificate
and print a copy.
For online credit certificates requested
prior to July 1, 2006 — View your past submissions
to see a list of submissions with the associated logs. Click the View/Print
link for the desired log, print a copy, and mail it to us with your
request for a duplicate certificate. Your request will be processed in
two to three weeks.
For desktop computer credit submissions —
Contact Customer Service for instructions on how to access your credit logs.