OBJECTIVES: In 2011, investments in continuing medical education (CME) exceeded $2 billion. Few studies report the economic impact of CME activities. Greater understanding of the economic value of CME assists stakeholders and health care cost payers in resource allocation. It is not feasible to obtain patient-level data after each CME activity. We developed a model to estimate the potential health care cost savings associated with CME activity outcomes. METHODS: We evaluated data from a certified CME symposium for surgeons that reviewed the Society for Thoracic Surgeons (STS) blood conservation guidelines. The activity promoted prevention of bleeding-related complications (BRCs). We estimated the potential savings of averted BRCs from the provider perspective predicted by participants' self-reported commitment to change (CTC). Model parameter estimates were from: 1) costs of BRCs in 103,826 cardiac operations; 2) costs of reoperation for bleeding in 133,001 coronary artery bypass graft surgeries; 3) operative volume from the STS workforce report. The base case was 3 in 10 participants preventing one BRC in 2% of operations over 1 year. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) using second-order Monte Carlo simulations was used to model parameter uncertainty. Results were standardized to 2012 $US using the medical care component of the Consumer Price Index.  RESULTS: 93.8% of participants (n=133) reported CTC, a validated measure of behavior change. For BRCs, the savings for the base case was $1,500,112. PSA estimated the mean savings as $1,502,769 (95% CI, $869,860–$2,359,068). For reoperation for bleeding, the savings for the base case was $2,974,497. PSA estimated the mean savings as $2,959,117 (95% CI, $1,135,992–$5,566,487). CONCLUSIONS: Plausible economic estimates suggest that CME-related learning favorably impacting clinical practice yields substantial cost savings. Model prediction of averted costs associated with CME allows estimation of the economic impact on surgical outcomes in the absence of patient-level outcomes data related to CME activities.