Serving the Public Interest – by Resolving Conflicts of Interest

For CME providers who enjoy developing procedures that address crucial requirements, complying with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)’s standard 2.3, could be a pleasure. The standard – designed to ensure the independence of CME activities from commercial interest – invites rigor and creativity. It requires the provider to “…have implemented a mechanism to identify and resolve all conflicts of interest prior to the educational activity being delivered to learners.” Because this standard is critically important and has engendered myriad approaches – according to provider – it represents a good starting point for CME Center discussions.

First step is identifying a conflict of interest. (A little more difficult than just knowing it when you see it.) When CME planners, faculty, managers, staff, authors, and reviewers report a financial relationship with a commercial interest – and the provider must require all persons involved with CME to report such relationships – the provider then determines whether the individual also has the opportunity to “affect the content of CME about the products or services of that commercial interest.” Also is key, here. A conflict of interest exists when the individual who reported the relationship also has the aforementioned opportunity. In short, financial relationship plus opportunity to affect content equals a conflict of interest, and a conflict of interest requires resolution.

Note, too, that the current ACCME standards call for disclosure of financial relationships with any commercial interest whereas the earlier standard used the term commercial entity. Interest conveys a broader, more encompassing concept than entity.

To learn more about resolution mechanisms, or how-to’s, as well as the philosophy behind the requirement, read the piece by Shelly Rodrigues, CAE, Chair of the Advisory Council for the Medical Education Leadership Forum and Deputy Executive Vice President of the California Academy of Family Physicians. Then tell us what you think and what you do!

Sidebar:
Check out a “Conflict of Interest Flow Chart for Continuing Medical Education Sessions” developed by the CME Leadership Forum located in the CME Resource Center.