Accreditation Counsel for Graduate Medical Education

What Accreditation Counsel for Graduate Medical Education does

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1981 and headquartered in Chicago, IL. It is the sole accreditor of US graduate medical education (GME) programs, evaluating residency and fellowship programs and the Sponsoring Institutions that operate them across all major medical and surgical specialties. Accreditation by ACGME is voluntary at the program level but functionally required for the receipt of CMS Medicare Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME) and Indirect Medical Education (IME) funding, which makes the organization an obligatory checkpoint for virtually every US teaching hospital and academic medical center. ACGME is governed by seven Member Organizations — ABMS, AHA, AMA, AAMC, CMSS, AOA, and AACOM — that nominate members to its 24-person Board of Directors, and its scope expanded materially in June 2020 when it completed a five-year transition to a single unified GME accreditation system that absorbed 98% of previously AOA-approved osteopathic programs.

ACGME's core product set is anchored by the Accreditation Data System (ADS), a data management platform for applications, compliance tracking, and program status; ACGME Cloud, a cloud-based analytics platform that replaced the legacy Data Resource Book; the Case Log System for resident clinical case documentation; and ACGME Surveys for stakeholder feedback collection. Beyond infrastructure, ACGME publishes the proprietary Milestones competency-assessment framework by specialty, operates the Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) program evaluating patient safety and trainee well-being in clinical settings, and runs funding initiatives such as Back to Bedside and Advancing Innovation in Residency Education (AIRE). It publishes the peer-reviewed Journal of Graduate Medical Education (JGME), hosts an annual educational conference, and operates Learn at ACGME as its online learning portal. ACGME International, a wholly-owned subsidiary, extends the accreditation franchise outside the US.

The organization's business model is structured around a fee-based accreditation process (pricing not publicly disclosed) complemented by publication, conference, and subscription revenue. Distribution is direct to enterprise customers — Sponsoring Institutions and programs — through ADS, ACGME Cloud, on-site evaluations by field representatives, and specialty-specific Review and Recognition Committees. With 51-100 employees, ACGME operates as a lean monopoly steward over a mandatory regulatory function, generating stable, recurring revenue tied to the scale of US GME rather than discretionary market demand.

Name

Accreditation Counsel for Graduate Medical Education

Legal name

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education

Website

https://acgme.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

ACGME is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as the sole accreditor of US graduate medical education residency and fellowship programs, evaluating Sponsoring Institutions against standards tied to CMS Medicare funding, and operating supporting data platforms, publications, and educational programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Graduate Medical Education Accreditation

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Programmatic Accreditors (Discipline/Profession-Specific) (EDADACAC)

Keywords

• Graduate medical education accreditation
• Residency program accreditation
• Medical training standards
• Clinical learning environment review
• Physician competency assessment

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ACGME accredits residency and fellowship programs and their sponsoring institutions in the United States, evaluating programs against educational standards and rendering accreditation decisions through specialty-specific Review Committees. It provides associated data systems (ADS, ACGME Cloud, Case Log, Surveys), competency-based assessment (Milestones), clinical learning environment evaluation (CLER), and educational resources (Learn at ACGME, JGME) to support program quality and compliance.

Product overview

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) operates as an accreditation organization for graduate medical education in the United States, offering a suite of platforms and programs rather than a single unified product. The core infrastructure includes the Accreditation Data System (ADS) for data management and application processing, the ACGME Cloud platform for analytics, the Case Log System for clinical documentation, and the ACGME Surveys platform. Supporting tools include the public Institution and Program Finder, the Learn at ACGME online learning portal, and the Journal of Graduate Medical Education as a peer-reviewed publication. The Milestones assessment framework provides competency-based evaluation tools, while initiatives like Back to Bedside, AIRE, and Rural and Underserved GME offer funding and support for innovation. The Annual Educational Conference serves as the primary professional development event. The Data Resource Book and CLER Program round out the data and assessment offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Back to Bedside: An initiative developed to support innovative projects that enhance the physician-patient relationship, funding resident- and fellow-led teams.
• ACGME Cloud
• Learn at ACGME
• ACGME LINC
• Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER)
• Advancing Innovation in Residency Education (AIRE)

Products and services

• GME Program and Institutional Accreditation
• Accreditation Data System (ADS)
• ACGME Cloud
• ACGME Surveys
• Case Log System
• Institution and Program Finder
• Learn at ACGME
• Journal of Graduate Medical Education (JGME)
• Milestones Assessment Framework
• Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) Program
• ACGME International
• Annual Educational Conference
• Advancing Innovation in Residency Education (AIRE)
• Back to Bedside

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and adjacent.

• American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)coreOthersMember organization of ACGME. Primary responsibility is to nominate individuals for membership on the ACGME Board of Directors. Located at 353 N. Clark St. Ste. 1400, Chicago, IL 60654.
• American Hospital Association (AHA)coreOthersMember organization of ACGME. Primary responsibility is to nominate individuals for membership on the ACGME Board of Directors. Located at 155 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606 and Washington, DC office.
• American Medical Association (AMA)coreOthersMember organization of ACGME. Primary responsibility is to nominate individuals for membership on the ACGME Board of Directors. Located at AMA Plaza, 330 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-5885.
• Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)coreOthersMember organization of ACGME. Primary responsibility is to nominate individuals for membership on the ACGME Board of Directors. Located at 655 K Street, NW, Ste. 100, Washington, DC 20001-2399.
• Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS)coreOthersMember organization of ACGME. Primary responsibility is to nominate individuals for membership on the ACGME Board of Directors. Located at 35 E. Wacker Dr., Ste. 850, Chicago, IL 60601-2106.
• American Osteopathic Association (AOA)coreOthersMember organization of ACGME, joined in 2014. Previously the accreditor of osteopathic GME programs. Serves as nominating organization to ACGME Review and Recognition Committees. Located at 142 E. Ontario St., Chicago, IL 60611-2864.
• American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM)coreOthersMember organization of ACGME, joined in 2014. Previously involved in osteopathic GME accreditation. Serves as nominating organization to ACGME Review and Recognition Committees. Located at 5550 Friendship Blvd., Ste. 310, Chevy Chase, MD 20815.
• Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)adjacentOthersThe LCME accredits US allopathic medical schools and is sponsored by AAMC and AMA. ACGME does not accredit medical schools but works within the broader medical education continuum.

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME): Accredits US allopathic medical schools granting the MD degree, sponsored by AAMC and AMA. Directly comparable as a programmatic accreditor in the medical education continuum, and ACGME's own document references LCME as an adjacent accreditation body. LCME covers undergraduate medical education while ACGME covers graduate medical education.
• Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA): Accredits osteopathic medical schools (DO-granting institutions) under the American Osteopathic Association. Directly comparable as a discipline-specific programmatic accreditor in medical education, and ACGME absorbed AOA's GME accreditation function in the 2020 single accreditation system transition.
• Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN): Accredits nursing education programs at multiple degree levels. Comparable as a programmatic accreditor in health professions education, with similar functions of program review, site visits, and standards enforcement.
• Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP): Largest programmatic accreditor in the US health sciences, covering allied health professions. Comparable in function (programmatic accreditation, site visits, standards) though serving a broader set of allied health disciplines rather than physician GME.
• Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA): Accredits physician assistant programs in the US. Comparable as a discipline-specific programmatic accreditor in health professions education, with similar structure of standards, site visits, and review committees.

Broad incumbents

• American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS): Member organization of ACGME and the umbrella body for physician specialty board certification in the US. Comparable as a major standards-setting body in medical education and physician credentialing, though its focus is on board certification rather than program accreditation.
• Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada: National accreditor and certifying body for specialty medical education in Canada, operating a parallel model to ACGME for Canadian residency programs. Comparable as a sovereign GME accreditor with similar standards, frameworks, and resident assessment methodologies.
• The Joint Commission: Largest healthcare accreditor in the US, accrediting hospitals and healthcare organizations. Comparable as a healthcare accreditation body that interacts with the same teaching institutions ACGME oversees, and ACGME's CLER Program was designed to align with Joint Commission hospital surveys.
• Higher Learning Commission (HLC): Regional institutional accreditor recognized by the US Department of Education. Comparable as an accreditation body operating in the higher education space where ACGME-accredited Sponsoring Institutions also seek HLC accreditation.

Regional players

• URAC: Independent healthcare accreditation organization offering specialty accreditation programs. Comparable as a healthcare-focused accreditation entity, though it operates primarily in managed care, pharmacy, and telehealth rather than medical education.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/acgme
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/acgme
• Instagraminstagram.com/acgme_official

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles32 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Accreditation Counsel for Graduate Medical Education