The last education-platform RFP on your shared drive was probably written for a learning management system, or copied from a vendor brochure. The demos that followed all sounded the same. The spreadsheets remained. That is not a purchasing failure so much as a category error: the document asked for features, and medical education is run on records an accreditor will actually read.
This guide is the operational how-to for buyers and procurement teams selecting a platform that will sit under curriculum, evaluations, clinical assignments, and accreditation evidence. It is written to work for MD, DO, GME, nursing, and veterinary programs without pretending one accreditor owns the page. Name the body that accredits you. Write the RFP as the records that body will ask for. Score vendors on whether those records survive the next departure. A downloadable worksheet (branded Excel workbook, with a plain-CSV alternative) is linked at the end.
Verified September 1, 2026 against LCME, ACGME, COCA, CCNE, ACEN, AVMA COE, and AAMC. Sources at the end.
| Owner | Clock | Artifact | Failure if skipped |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accreditation lead plus procurement | Before anyone drafts a requirement; this week, not visit year | The accreditor named on the last survey letter, on worksheet row one, plus the current standards page pulled this week | RFP says AAMC-accredited, or treats a member-organization survey as rule text |
| Accreditation lead | This week, not visit year | Last cycle's packet, with the edition it was built on named | Cannot name the edition; the RFP cites last cycle's saved copy |
| Dean or DIO, accreditation lead, curriculum or program leadership, coordinators, IT, procurement | Before a line of requirements is written | Named-owner worksheet; if the name is the committee, you do not have an owner | Procurement-only LMS RFP, or a document vault faculty never open |
| Curriculum lead plus coordinators who run evaluations and clinical assignments | Before vendors write | Records tests: curriculum as taught, evaluations as completed, clinical assignments as run, accreditation evidence as last submitted | Feature catalog; templated answers; wish-list items that cannot be shown on last year's files |
| Procurement plus IT plus accreditation lead | Categories published before vendors write; leave-test bound in the contract | The same walkthrough with your data for every finalist; export formats someone on staff can open | Beauty contest; a platform you cannot leave |
Who actually accredits us?
The body named on your last survey letter, not a member association and not a vendor slide. Write that name on row one of the worksheet before anyone drafts a requirement.
AAMC does not accredit medical schools. The AAMC's own About page describes a member organization that leads and serves medical schools, academic health systems and teaching hospitals, and academic societies. If your RFP says "AAMC-accredited" or treats an AAMC survey as if it were LCME rule text, stop and rewrite the line.
| Body | What it actually governs | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| LCME | MD programs. Jointly sponsored by the AAMC and the AMA. The Secretariat and the publications on lcme.org are the only official sources on LCME policies, procedures, and the intent of elements. Standards live in Functions and Structure of a Medical School. | AAMC membership, AAMC surveys, or vendor slides that say AAMC-accredited |
| ACGME | Residency and fellowship programs and the institutions that sponsor them. Monitors Institutional and Program Requirements, including through data collection, surveys, and site visits. | US medical schools. Nursing or other health-profession training |
| COCA | Colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States. Recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. | A stand-in for LCME or ACGME |
| CCNE | Baccalaureate, graduate, and residency/fellowship programs in nursing. Recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Baccalaureate and graduate standards revision announced July 7, 2026. | The only nursing accreditor (ACEN also exists) |
| ACEN | Nursing education programs. Recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA. | A reason to paste CCNE language into every nursing RFP |
| AVMA Council on Education | Programs leading to the DVM or VMD. Recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Self-evaluation, site visits, a written report, and ongoing monitoring. | A medical-school or nursing document set |
| AAMC | Member organization serving medical schools, academic health systems and teaching hospitals, and academic societies. | An accreditor |
The LCME accredits MD programs; it is jointly sponsored by the AAMC and the AMA, and the LCME About page is explicit that the Secretariat and the publications on lcme.org are the only official sources on LCME policies, procedures, and the intent of elements. The ACGME FAQ is equally plain: the ACGME does not accredit US medical schools; it accredits GME (residency and fellowship) programs and the institutions that sponsor them, and it does not accredit training programs for nurses or other health professionals. COCA, recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, accredits colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States. CCNE is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education for baccalaureate, graduate, and residency/fellowship programs in nursing. ACEN is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA as an accrediting body for nursing education programs. The AVMA Council on Education is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for programs leading to the DVM or VMD.
Member-organization reports, curriculum vocabularies, and workforce data are real. They are not the accreditor.
If you already know you are buying for graduate medical education, use the companion RFP for GME management software. If you are an MD program stress-testing a platform against the LCME document set, use Questions an MD Program Should Ask. Named-platform comparison lives in the comparison guide, not here.
What should the RFP ask for, if not a feature list?
The records that currently run the program, and proof a vendor can hold them after the person who built them has left. A feature catalog produces templated answers. A records list produces a walkthrough.
Every body above publishes standards and a review process. Editions move. The RFP should ask vendors to work from the edition that governs your next review, pulled from the body's site, not from a saved copy of last cycle.
| Body | What the current pages actually name | Operational implication for the RFP |
|---|---|---|
| LCME | Functions and Structure of a Medical School. As of March 9, 2026, publications are not on one page; standards are under the Resources tab. | Cite the edition that matches your survey year. Do not work from last cycle's saved copy. |
| ACGME | Institutional and Program Requirements, monitored through data collection, surveys, and site visits. | Ask for the records those reviews actually read, not a module named compliance. |
| AVMA COE | Self-evaluation, site visits, a written report, and ongoing monitoring. | Ask to open last cycle's packet without the vendor in the room. |
| CCNE | Baccalaureate and graduate accreditation standards revision approved July 7, 2026. | Pull this year's language. Do not paste last year's PDF into the matrix. |
LCME names Functions and Structure of a Medical School as the standards document. ACGME monitors Institutional and Program Requirements, including through data collection, surveys, and site visits. AVMA COE describes a self-evaluation, site visits, a written report, and ongoing monitoring. CCNE approved revisions to its baccalaureate and graduate accreditation standards on July 7, 2026.
This guide's own test: open last cycle's packet. If you cannot name the edition it was built on, that is the first row on the worksheet, and it is due this week, not in visit year.
Who has to be in the room before a line of requirements is written?
The people who produce the records, the people who will live in the system, and the people who will sign the contract. If procurement writes the RFP alone, you will buy a learning management system. If the accreditation lead writes it alone, you will buy a document vault that faculty never open.
| Seat | Why they are in the room | What they do not own |
|---|---|---|
| Dean, designated institutional official, or equivalent | Visible sponsorship. Signs the purchase. Removes walls only they can remove. | Drafting security language |
| Named accreditation lead | Names the body, the edition, and last cycle's packet | Writing the whole RFP in isolation |
| Curriculum or program leadership | Owns the map and what an export the office can actually read | Module names from a brochure |
| Coordinators who run evaluations and clinical assignments | Walk last year's files. If they cannot, the requirement is a wish list | The contract |
| Information technology | Hosting, identity, integrations, data residency, the leave-test | Accreditation language |
| Procurement | Same sections, same matrix, published categories, calendar | Inventing the records list |
| Learners | Users of the record. Interview them for pain. | Drafting security language |
Put names on the worksheet. If the name is "the committee," you do not have an owner.
How should we structure the RFP so vendors can actually answer it?
Same sections, in the same order, for every vendor, with a response matrix that forces yes, partial, or no, plus a pointer to where in the product the record lives. Narrative-only RFPs get narrative-only proposals.
This guide recommends eight sections:
| Section | What it names |
|---|---|
| 1. Introduction and background | Who you are, which body accredits you, why you are buying now |
| 2. Scope | What is in, what is out, which campuses, which programs |
| 3. Functional requirements | Grouped by workflow, not by module name |
| 4. Technical requirements | Hosting, identity, integrations, accessibility, security documentation |
| 5. Implementation and support | A calendar that includes your work, not only theirs |
| 6. Submission instructions | Required files, format, deadline, question window |
| 7. Evaluation categories | Published in advance, weights filled locally |
| 8. Calendar | Questions, submission, demos, award |
Do not paste another school's RFP and swap the letterhead. This page is not built from a private corpus of school RFPs, and you should not pretend yours was either. Write from your records.
What belongs in functional requirements without turning them into a product tour?
Workflows you can walk with your own data: curriculum as taught, evaluations as completed, clinical assignments as they actually ran, and accreditation evidence as last submitted. If a requirement cannot be demonstrated on a masked record from last year, it is a wish list.
| Workflow | What the matrix asks | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Curriculum | Where objectives are taught and assessed; who owns the map; what export a curriculum office can actually read | A visit-year mapping project, or a coverage heatmap you cannot walk |
| Evaluations | Who is asked, when, whether completion is visible in the term the activity ran, and which source file would feed a dean's letter or a promotion file | A form catalog with no owner |
| Clinical assignments | Site capacity, conflicts, and whether a name or site change updates one record or five | Five local copies of the roster |
| Accreditation evidence | Named owners per current standard or element, artifacts linked to the standard they support, and a packet you can open without the vendor in the room | A document vault nobody opens |
Do not write LCME reporting into a nursing RFP, or ACGME milestones into a veterinary RFP. Name your body. Pull this year's language. If you need GME-specific diligence (institutional versus program, ADS, cost reporting), use the GME RFP companion. If you need the LCME document set in detail, use the MD questions companion and Managing LCME Accreditation. Segment question lists for GME, DO, and veterinary platforms live in the Evidence library; this page stays on the RFP itself.
What technical questions are actually load-bearing?
The ones that decide whether information technology will let the system go live, and whether you can leave. Hosting and data residency, single sign-on, role-based access, a documented export or programming interface, accessibility (ask for a VPAT; name the WCAG bar your campus already uses), and the security packet your counsel already named.
| Question | Why it is load-bearing | Failure if skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Where does production data live, and which subprocessors touch it? | IT and counsel will not let the system go live on a shrug | A go-live that stalls in security review |
| Can we leave? What happens to maps, evaluation history, and accreditation artifacts if we terminate? | This guide's own rule is that a platform you cannot leave is not an operating record | The next RFP starts from a hole |
| Is there a documented export or programming interface someone on staff can open? | Bind it in the contract, not only in the proposal | Screenshots of a demo |
| Accessibility: VPAT, and the WCAG bar your campus already uses | Campus bar wins | A brochure sentence about being accessible |
Ask where production data lives. Ask which subprocessors touch it. Ask what happens to your maps, evaluation history, and accreditation artifacts if you terminate.
How do we evaluate proposals without a beauty contest?
Publish the categories before vendors write. Score the same walkthrough for every finalist, with your data, not a demo script. Relative importance is a local decision; the worksheet leaves the weights blank on purpose so a committee cannot hide behind a borrowed rubric.
| Category | What you score | What you stop at |
|---|---|---|
| Functional fit | Your records, walked | A feature checklist |
| Faculty and coordinator task | A real task completed without a specialist | A specialist driving the demo |
| Implementation plan | Named institutional work on the calendar | Optimistic vendor-only dates |
| Integrations | Student information system and learning management system you actually run | A generic interface slide |
| Support after go-live | A path that is not a black hole | A named account manager with no hours |
| Same-accreditor experience | Programs under the body that governs you | AAMC-accredited as a proxy |
| Total cost | Services, training, and the work your staff will still do | License line only |
Bring one course, one clinical assignment, and last cycle's accreditation packet to the demo. Stop at roadmap language.
What should we ask about implementation, support, and leaving?
A calendar with named institutional work, a training plan for the people who will actually click, a support path that is not a black hole, and export formats someone on your staff can open. Implementation is where optimistic proposals go to die.
Ask for a sample timeline that includes your work, not only theirs. Ask who configures evaluations and the curriculum map: the vendor, your staff, or an unnamed shared model. Ask for the leave-test in writing.
A 30-second check. Without opening a brochure, can you name the accreditor, the owner of last cycle's packet, and the person who will run the demo walkthrough? If any of those is blank, do not send the RFP yet.
The worksheet
Download the medical-education RFP worksheet (Excel), or the plain CSV if you would rather import it into Google Sheets or your own tracker. Every task above is a row, grouped by phase, with columns for the suggested owner, what to put in the RFP, status, and notes. Import it, put real names in the owner column at your next leadership meeting, and the RFP becomes a plan instead of a recycled Word file.
The worksheet is a handoff into a standing process, not the system of record. Named owners and records tests are a standing process in the platform: people first, then a walkthrough with last year's files, then a system that still holds those records when someone leaves.
If the RFP tests curriculum records, start at curriculum mapping. Do not caption a coverage heatmap as proof that the map is already done.
If you are buying for an MD program, Medtrics loads LCME elements as a native accreditation framework, assigns named owners with due dates to each element, and tracks submit, review, and approve status as a living list. That sentence is LCME-specific. Do not import it into a nursing or veterinary RFP. For the MD document set, owners, and backward timeline, use Managing LCME Accreditation.
None of this writes the RFP for you. The calendar, the owners, and the people who will live in the system still do the work. A platform makes the boring structure durable when people leave.
Sources and status
This guide was verified on September 1, 2026 against the following sources. After publication, the current pages on each accreditor's site remain the only authoritative statement of any requirement.
- LCME About: MD-program accreditor; jointly sponsored by AAMC and AMA; Secretariat and lcme.org publications are the only official sources on policies, procedures, and intent of elements; standards live in Functions and Structure of a Medical School. lcme.org/about
- LCME Publications: as of March 9, 2026, publications are not on one page; standards are under the Resources tab. lcme.org/publications
- ACGME Overview: accredits residency and fellowship programs in the US; monitors Institutional and Program Requirements through data collection, surveys, and site visits. acgme.org/about/overview
- ACGME FAQ: does not accredit US medical schools; does not accredit nursing or other health-profession training. ACGME FAQ
- COCA: recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the accreditor of colleges of osteopathic medicine; US only. osteopathic.org/accreditation
- CCNE: recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education for baccalaureate, graduate, and residency/fellowship programs in nursing; baccalaureate and graduate standards revision announced July 7, 2026. ccneaccreditation.org
- ACEN: recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA as an accrediting body for nursing education programs. acenursing.org
- AVMA COE: recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for DVM or VMD programs; self-evaluation, site visits, written report, ongoing monitoring. AVMA COE
- AAMC About: member organization serving medical schools, academic health systems and teaching hospitals, and academic societies. Not an accreditor. aamc.org/about-us
LCME, ACGME, COCA, CCNE, ACEN, AVMA, AAMC, and AMA are named descriptively. This article is an independent operational guide from Medtrics, not guidance from any of those bodies, and nothing here promises any accreditation outcome. The work does that, or nothing does.