GrandRapidsMedicalEducation

1. Speaker and Planning Committee Disclosures/Conflict of Interest

Responsibilities related to a Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners CME activity must be free of control by a commercial interest.  (See www.accme.org for a definition of “commercial interest” and some exemptions.)  Anyone in a position to control content of an educational activity must disclose all non-relevant or relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest(s) to the attendees prior to the start of the presentation.  The ACCME defines “relevant financial relationship” as relationships in any amount occurring within the past 12 months that create conflict of interest(s).  An example of a “relevant financial relationships is if you, (including those of a business, personal or family member) have any financial relationships in any amount occurring within the past 12 months that are relevant to this CME activity.  It is the policy of GRMEP’s CME Committee to identify and manage conflicts of interest prior to the date of the activity.

The provider must be able to show that everyone who is in a position to control content of an educational activity has disclosed all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest to the provider and attendees prior to the start of the presentation.  Any individual who refuses to disclose relevant financial relationships will be disqualified from being a planning committee member, a teacher, author or speaker of the CME activity.  In addition, they cannot have control of, or responsibility for, the development, management, presentation or evaluation of the CME activity.  

It is the policy of the GRMEP CME Committee to identify and manage conflicts of interest prior to the scheduled date of an activity.  All slides, handouts and educational materials will be reviewed prior to the presentation.  If conflict of interest is identified the speaker will be asked to remove the conflict of interest.  If compliance is not demonstrated, the physician responsible will be notified in writing and the activity will not be allowed to grant AMA PRA Category 1 credit.  

Social events or meals at CME activities cannot compete with, or take precedence over the educational activity.  

Speaker Honorarium & Expenses

Speaker honorarium and expenses related to a GRMEP CME activity should be reasonable and customary as concluded by the GRMEP CME Committee.  Extenuating circumstances will be taken under advisement.  If an honorarium is being paid to a speaker, the source of where the funds came from to pay the honorarium needs to be disclosed to the learners.

An individual must disclose to learners any relevant financial relationship(s), to include the following information:

:  Name of individual;

:  Name of commercial interest(s);

:  Nature of relationship the person has with each commercial interest(s);

:  An individual with no relevant financial relationship(s) must inform the learners that 

  no relevant financial relationship(s) exist.

The physician responsible or room moderator for the activity must document that disclosure took place.  GRMEP’s CME Activity Sign-In sheet is designed to easily document whether disclosure took place.  GRMEP CME Office prefers to have speaker disclosure included with the presentation as part of the first or second slides.  You can also have a printed disclosure located at your sign-in table to show disclosure for all individuals involved in the planning of the activity.  

Absence of Disclosure

If GRMEP CME Office is notified that disclosure did not take place, a letter will be sent to the physician responsible for the activity to request documentation as to why it did not occur.  If disclosure does not take place, future accreditation of the program will be in jeopardy.  If an attendee reports that disclosure did not take place, the attendee will be contacted by the CME Office for clarification.

Evaluations and sign-in sheets must be submitted to GRMEP CME Office within 48 hours after the event.  If evaluations and sign-in sheets are not legible, CME credit cannot be recorded for those participants.  Each participant MUST sign-in and complete an evaluation to receive credit for the activity.  If both components are not completed,  attendance/credit will not be granted.  CME returned packets are required to include completed speaker forms; speaker/planning committee disclosure(s), speaker information, speaker letter of agreement and a copy of their CV.  We also need a copy of the presentation in printed form, or saved on a flash drive or CD.  If all information is not included, packet will be returned.

GRMEP follows The ACCME Standards for Commercial Support/Standards to Ensure Independence in CME Activities policies with regard to commercial support and commercial interest.  For more information see www.accme.org .   The content or format of a CME activity must promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.  Presentations must give a balanced view of therapeutic options.  Use of generic names will contribute to this impartiality.  If the CME activity includes trade names, where available, trade names from all companies should be used, not just a trade name from a single company.  Educational materials including slides, abstracts and handouts cannot contain advertising, trade names, or a product-group message.

Commercial Interest

Arrangements for commercial exhibits or advertisements cannot influence planning or interfere with the presentation, nor can they be a condition of the provision of commercial support for CME activities.  Product-promotion material or product-specific advertisement of any type is prohibited in or during CME activities.  Live (staffed exhibits, presentations) or enduring (printed or electronic advertisements) promotional activities must be kept outside of the CME activity.    

Commercial Support

Funds received from educational grants must be paid to the GRMEP CME Office.  GRMEP CME Office must make all decisions regarding the disposition and disbursement of commercial support.  Commercial support can be used to pay speaker honoraria(s), speaker travel, lodging and meals, and the room rental of the CME activity.  The physician responsible or administrative contact person must provide documentation detailing the receipt(s) and expenditure(s) of the speaker for the expenses to be eligible for reimbursement.  

The source of all commercial support must be disclosed to the learners.  When commercial support is “in-kind” the nature of the support must be disclosed to learners.  ‘Disclosure’ must never include the use of a trade name(s) or a product-group message.

Upon completion of the CME activity the provider must provide a copy of the final budget.

 The CME Office will accredit CME activities located within Kent County.  This includes single and regularly scheduled series (RSS) for jointly sponsored events.