ACCME Report: CME Income for MECCs Dropped 20% Last Year

Although the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) reports that total income for all CME providers dropped only 7% from 2007 to 2008, total income for publishing and education companies (ie, MECCs) dropped 20%. These data are derived from the ACCME's 2008 Annual Report, which was released last week. The income drop for MECCs is largely due to loss of commercial (ie, pharma) support, which fell 22% from 2007 to 2008. Also 6 fewer MECCs reported income data to the ACCME in 2008 (from 150 in 2007).

CME Income and Expense Data for Publishing/Education Companies, 2004-2008

Net income (total income – total expense) for all reporting MECCs in 2008 was $157,608,100, compared with $215,106,000 in 2007 (percentage drop, 27%). In addition, the percentage of total CME income for MECCs (among all providers) dropped below 30% (to 28%) for the first time in at least 5 years. General sentiment in the CME-MECC biz is that last year's income drop is the beginning of a downward trend, not a one-time aberration.

MECCs = medical education communications companies.