Rationale and objectives: The advent of the ACGME's Next Accreditation System represents a significant new challenge for residencies and fellowships, owing to its requirements for more complex and detailed information.
Material and methods: We developed a system of online assessment tools to provide comprehensive coverage of the twelve ACGME Milestones and digitized them using freely available cloud-based productivity tools. These tools include a combination of point-of-care procedural assessments, electronic quizzes, online modules, and other data entry forms. Using free statistical analytic tools, we also developed an automated system for management, processing, and data reporting.
Results: After one year of use, our Milestones project has resulted in the submission of over 20,000 individual data points. The use of automated statistical methods to generate resident-specific profiles has allowed for dynamic reports of individual residents' progress. These profiles both summarize data and also allow program directors access to more granular information as needed.
Conclusion: Informatics-driven strategies for data assessment and processing represent feasible solutions to Milestones assessment and analysis, reducing the potential administrative burden for program directors, residents, and staff.
Keywords: ACGME; Milestones; informatics.
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