CME credit application process
Applying for AAFP credit for your organization’s CME activities is straightforward. Follow our step-by-step guide to get started.
Step 1: Review eligibility requirements
CME providers may apply for AAFP credit for CME activities that are relevant to family medicine and meet the AAFP Credit System's eligibility requirements. Follow our decision tree when trying to determine whether a topic is eligible for AAFP CME credit. It’s also recommended that CME providers familiarize themselves with Credit System policies prior to applying.
Credit system eligibility resources
Eligibility requirements
Decision tree
Policies
Step 2: Create individual account
Every CME provider account must be linked to an individual AAFP account. To get started, whomever will be the credit application submitter should create and AAFP account for themselves before creating an organizational account. To link your AAFP account to a pre-existing CME provider account, email cmecredit@aafp.org. Any questions pertaining to individual account creation should be directed to the Member Resource Center at (800) 274-2237 or by emailing aafp@aafp.org.
Step 3: Request an organizational account
Every CME organization must have an active AAFP Credit System CME provider account. If the organization under which applications for CME credit will be submitted does not have an active AAFP Credit System CME provider account, you must request to create a new CME provider account. The request is associated with a one-time fee and must be submitted so the Credit System can assess the organization’s eligibility.
What you need to apply for a provider account
The organization’s name, type, contact information, purpose and mission, and primary intended audience
Organizational chart only if your organization, or any of its sister or parent companies, produces, markets, sells, re-sells or distributes healthcare products used by or on patients
Completed educational plan using the AAFP educational plan template
Example of the CME activity evaluation and/or assessment
Copy of your organization’s CME Relevant Financial Relationship Policy and Disclosure Form
Copy of your organization’s policy for managing commercial support
Submit a new provider account request
Navigate to the New CME Provider Request Form page.
Choose between submitting an organization account request for a “Standard CME Provider” or an “ALSO/BLSO Only Provider.”
After submitting your “Standard CME Provider” or “ALSO/BLSO Only Provider” form, a Credit System staff member will review the submission and determine the next steps.
Please allow up to 10 business days for staff to reply to these requests.
Step 4: Complete a credit application
If your organization is deemed eligible, then your individual account will be linked to the organizational account, so you can complete a credit application for your CME activity. Log in to your CME provider dashboard to complete your application. Once logged into your dashboard, you’ll see all applications for which you are the application owner.
Credit application process
Select one of three pathways: Simple, Advanced, or ALSO/BLSO. (The application pathway is determined based upon the structure and design of a CME provider’s educational content.)
Enter activity level details.
Add a session, or sessions, with the appropriate session format(s) and session level details.
Submit and pay for the application. View fees.
FAQ about getting started
The organization (CME provider) primarily involved in planning, developing, and hosting the educational activity should be the one to apply for AAFP credit.
No.
No. The organization that is primarily involved with the planning, creating, and hosting of the education is the CME provider of the activity and should be the one to apply for AAFP credit. Organizations that do not have an existing CME provider account can complete a request form and follow the new organization request process.
Individuals who wish to apply for credit must have an individual AAFP account that is linked to a CME provider organization account. If you do not have an individual and/or CME provider organization account, follow the steps outlined to create an account.
Be sure to first create an individual account for yourself. Then email the AAFP Credit System to notify us that you are taking over the application submission responsibilities for your organization. We’ll need the following information to process your request:
- Your name and AAFP ID number
- Your organization’s name and AAFP ID number
- Previous application submitter’s name
- Designate which past credit applications you want transferred to your account (e.g. one specific application, all past applications, etc.)
If you’re seeing this error message, it’s because your individual AAFP account has not been successfully linked to an organizational account. To assist with this, please email us the following information:
- Your name and individual AAFP ID number.
- The name of the organization hosting the CME activity you’re wanting to apply for credit for.
- The organization’s AAFP ID number (if available).
Staff will either link your individual account to the organizational account in our system to resolve the issue. Or, if an active organizational account does not exist yet, then you’ll need follow the steps to submit an organizational request form.
CME providers must add at least one session when initially submitting an advanced pathway credit application. The remainder of the sessions must be entered, as the information becomes available, in order to gain approval for each session. If a session is added it needs to be final and ready for review. Placeholder sessions should not be submitted for the provider to come back to edit at a later date.
CME providers may add additional sessions and check their statuses by logging into the CME provider dashboard online and accessing the Activity Summary page of an application. Please note when completing an advanced pathway credit application for a blended learning activity all sessions must be entered during the original credit application submission in order to receive approval of the overall application.
When a CME activity is approved for AAFP Prescribed credit, it means that an application and supporting materials were reviewed and approved by the AAFP Credit System. An AAFP active or life member was involved in the planning of the activity, and the content is primarily designed for physicians and is relevant to the scope of family medicine.
When a CME activity is designated for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, the CME activity is directly, or jointly provided, by CME providers who are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), an authorized state medical society, or the American Medical Association (AMA). View AAFP's credit equivalency agreement with the AMA.
No. CME providers are not required to distribute letters or certificates of participation. However, learners find this documentation helpful, as many learners need a letter or certificate of participation for state licensing or credentialing. View Tools for CME Providers that includes a certificate of participation template that CME providers can use or modify to fit their needs. AAFP members may self-report CME credits in the following ways:
Online:
By phone:
By mail:
American Academy of Family Physicians
Attn: AAFP Member Resource Center
11400 Tomahawk Creek Pkwy
Leawood, KS 66211-2672
While it’s not required that CME providers report credit on their learner’s behalf, the AAFP Credit System understands that some CME providers want to assist in reporting learners CME credit to AAFP on the behalf of their learners as a benefit.
The AAFP CME Credit Reporting Sheet was created as a convenient tool for CME Providers whose CME activities have been certified for AAFP CME credit, so that they can report their learner’s AAFP CME credits on their behalf. Once downloaded, this tool can be utilized by filling in the appropriate learner data and then emailing it as an attachment to the email address listed within the tool. The AAFP Member Resource Center will then verify the education and log the CME credits into the member’s transcript on your behalf.
Providers are welcome to apply for all education that meets AAFP Credit System’s eligibility requirements. Please note, in order for the Credit System to review the education, all information must be submitted in English, including but not limited to topics, agendas, and learning objectives.
FAQ about the credit application process
Yes, we do allow retroactive credit (meaning the activity/session has occurred in the past). However, the activity/session must be submitted within 365 days of occurring.
The AAFP active or life member should review the titles and learning objectives for each topic within the CME activity. The review should focus on ensuring all topics included in the activity are relevant to the scope of family medicine and designed at a level educationally appropriate for physicians who graduated from medical school and have been awarded a MD/DO degree. If the member agrees that the content meets the definition of AAFP Prescribed credit, then they should provide their AAFP ID number to the CME provider for them to include in the credit application.
If you need help acquiring an AAFP active or life member, you can contact your local state AAFP chapter and they may be able to assist in connecting you with a member or you can contact your local hospital, medical school, or residency for assistance.
Unsure how to ask an AAFP active or life member to review your CME activity for Prescribed credit? We've created a ready-to-use email template to make the process simple and effortless.
No. There is not a set number of learning objectives that must be submitted for each individual topic, or session, within the CME activity. The number of learning objectives should correspond to the length of the session and the content being covered. A general rule of thumb is three to five learning objectives for each topic/session.