United For Patients

Texas Tech Health El Paso Gains Joint Accreditation to Expand Team Training for Regional Health Professionals

Unified continuing education system enables doctors, nurses, pharmacists and dentists across West Texas and southern New Mexico to use shared protocols and deliver safer patient care

Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and dentists across the region will be able to complete more continuing education hours as a team through Texas Tech Health El Paso. The university has earned Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education, enabling unified, team-based training to strengthen coordination and patient safety.

Joint Accreditation replaces separate approval tracks with one coordinated system for continuing education across medicine, nursing, pharmacy and dentistry. It supports interprofessional learning, where different health professions train together to improve teamwork and patient care.

Texas Tech Health El Paso introduced the Joint Accreditation program on Friday, Jan. 23, with a campus reception for faculty and course planners, in recognition of Healthcare Continuing Education Professionals Day.

Licensed health professionals across West Texas and southern New Mexico are required to complete continuing education hours to maintain their credentials, and Joint Accreditation now enables Texas Tech Health El Paso to offer more of that required training in team-based formats that help providers communicate better, reduce clinical errors and deliver more efficient care in a region facing persistent provider shortages.

In December 2025, the university received formal notice of Joint Accreditation after an 18-month process that included a comprehensive self-study and a review of selected continuing education program files from the previous two years, demonstrating that Texas Tech Health El Paso meets national accreditation criteria and standards.

The American Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) are the three primary U.S. accrediting bodies for continuing education in medicine, pharmacy, and nursing. Each establishes and administers its own accreditation criteria. Their collaboration enables universities to offer interprofessional continuing education through a unified Joint Accreditation pathway.

In January, Texas Tech Health El Paso elected to add dental continuing education credit through the American Dental Association Continuing Education Recognition Program.

The achievement places the university among just 200 organizations nationwide that hold this credential.

“For the last four and a half years, we held separate accreditations for continuing medical education and nursing contact hours,” said Cynthia Juarez, managing director of the Office of Continuing Professional Education at Texas Tech Health El Paso. “Rather than pursuing a third separate accreditation for dental continuing education, we applied for Joint Accreditation. Bringing these professions under one set of accreditation standards and criteria makes our planning more unified, streamlined and efficient.”

What Joint Accreditation Means Locally

El Paso faces acute health care shortages that unified accreditation directly addresses. With fewer providers available, training them to work efficiently as teams becomes critical.

According to a 2025 systematic review in Annals of Internal Medicine, poor communication among health care professionals contributes to one in four patient safety incidents. Hospitals that use standardized teamwork training reduce preventable medical errors by 30% and see 28% fewer patient deaths.

“This program is about improving the day-to-day experience of care for El Pasoans,” said Richard Lange, M.D., M.B.A., president of Texas Tech Health El Paso. “Unifying accreditation helps our region’s health care teams train together, communicate better and deliver safer, more coordinated care for the people we serve.”

The accreditation requires that at least 25% of continuing education activities be interprofessional, with health care professionals from multiple disciplines learning together.

The university currently hosts multiple continuing education events each month during the academic year, including grand rounds, conferences and online courses.

Accreditation expands the university's interprofessional education from undergraduate and graduate programs into ongoing professional development, ensuring a smooth learning experience across all stages.

Why Continuing Education is Important for Our Community’s Health

Continuing education is essential for health care professionals in Texas to maintain their licenses. Health care team members must complete designated continuing education hours throughout their careers, covering topics such as ethics, cultural competency, pain management and emerging medical issues. This ongoing education ensures their training remains current, which is crucial for maintaining a responsive and effective health care system in El Paso, capable of addressing new challenges and incorporating emerging evidence.

“Continuing education professionals are the backbone of this work,” Juarez said. “And that’s not just our CE office staff—it’s also the physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other health care professionals who serve as activity directors, planners and speakers while still caring for patients, teaching and conducting research. They’re the ones who make sure our accredited continuing education is evidence-based, free of commercial bias, and meets accreditation requirements. Without them, this doesn’t happen.”

Celebrating Professionals and Lifelong Learning

To learn more about Joint Accreditation, visit their website.

For a calendar of upcoming Continuing Education events, visit the CE calendar.

About Texas Tech Health El Paso

Texas Tech Health El Paso serves 108 counties in West Texas and is dedicated to preparing the next generation of health care heroes. Established as an independent university in 2013, Texas Tech Health El Paso is a uniquely innovative destination for medical, nursing, biomedical sciences and dental education.

Focusing on excellence in health care education, research, and clinical service, Texas Tech Health El Paso has graduated over 2,600 professionals over the past decade. For more information, visit ttuhscepimpact.org.