The healthcare leaders said the LCME has “ever-changing standards,” leading to months of onerous preparation and significant costs for a three-day site visit by five committee members.
Robert Grossman, MD, CEO of NYU Langone Health and dean of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and Steven Abramson, MD, executive vice president of the health system and vice dean of the medical school, wrote the opinion piece.
In anticipation of the LCME visiting NYU Langone in 2023, the system spent $30,000 for a consultant’s help with the process. After receiving an accreditation “with warning,” another $250,000 was shelled out for another round of consultants, Dr. Grossman and Dr. Abramson said.
In addition, they said the LCME’s final report included 14 inaccuracies, and they believe the accreditation “with warning” was an error.
“While the accreditation process is intended to ensure quality across the nation’s 159 medical schools, it has become burdensome, diverting resources and attention from training future physicians,” Dr. Grossman and Dr. Abramson wrote.
They called for the LCME to simplify the review process, address the potential conflict of interest of former employees becoming consultants for the process, and allow medical schools to appeal decisions.
The LCME is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association, but operates independently and has final authority for the adoption of new or revised accreditation standards or policies.
The LCME is preparing a response to the op-ed, which will be posted to its website later this week.
Editor’s note: This article was updated Oct. 8 at 12:57 p.m. CT.
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