Managing Commercial Support: UAB Entities

Commercial Support of Education Events

Please note: If you plan to apply for commercial support or will have exhibitors at your event, we require you to  attest that you have reviewed this section of our guide, understood its contents, and commit to ensuring that your activity will meet the ACCME standards for commercial support. The attestation form is here.

 What is Commercial Support?

Commercial support for an activity is financial or in-kind (e.g. an equipment loan) given by a commercial interest, or ineligible company, and used to pay all or part of the costs of an activity.

An ineligible company is any entity producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care products used on or by patients, OR any entity owned by an organization that meets this definition.

If your activity receives any form of support from a commercial entity, i.e. financial or non-financial (in-kind) support, then the standards for integrity and independence must be followed to ensure that the activity is free from the control of that commercial interest.

The Standards for Integrity and Independence

There are six essential pillars to the standards for integrity and independence. The essential elements are listed below, we encourage you to click on the link in each bolded item and read through each standard. You will likely have questions, and you should direct those to us or contact your certification specialist.

• Independence:
  • Commercial interests can't control any aspect of content development
• Resolution of personal conflicts of interest:
  • Anyone in control of content must disclose all relevant financial relationships
  • An individual who refuses to disclose financial relationships cannot be a planner, committee member, teacher/presenter, or author of CME content
  • UAB CME, as provider, must have a process to identify and resolve all conflicts of interest (that process is described in the section on financial disclosure)
• Appropriate Use of commercial support:
  • UAB CME, as provider, must make or validate all decisions regarding disposition and disbursement of commercial support
  • A commercial entity cannot influence or offer advice on decisions concerning teachers, authors, participants, or other education matters
  • UAB CME must be made aware of all commercial support provided to any activity
  • All terms for using commercial support must be documented in a written agreement between the commercial supporter and UAB CME
• Appropriate management of associated commercial promotion:
  • All commercial promotion must be physically separated from educational activities
  • No advertising or commercial logos can appear in educational content
• Content format without commercial bias:
  • Content can't promote any specific business interest
  • Presentations must give a balanced view of therapeutic options
• Disclosures relevant to potential commercial bias:
  • • • Disclosures of any relevant financial relationship must be made to participants (see the section on financial disclosure)

       

  Critical Elements to Know

  While each element of the standards for commercial support are important, we want to ensure that you understand the following when dealing with commercial support:

  • • A commercial interest is defined as any entity producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health products used on or by patients.
      • If you are unsure if the entity you are working with meets this definition, check here and/or ask us.
    • No representative of a commercial interest may control any content for which CME credit is awarded except under a narrow set of specific conditions. Always let us know if your activity plans to include a representative of a commercial entity in its program. WE must determine that such a presentation meets one of the three conditions and that the presentation meets our content validity standard.
    • In-Kind support, e.g. the use of a piece of equipment to demonstrate a procedure or technique, requires a signed Letter of Agreement just as any education grant or monetary support does
    • All forms of commercial support must be disclosed to activity participants
      • No brands, logos, or corporate slogans can be used when providing such information to learners
    • Commercial support contributed for a CME activity must only be used for that activity, and you must report how those funds were disbursed to UAB CME after the activity is concluded
    • Commercial funds can be used to pay honoraria or other reasonable expenses for activity faculty, but can never be used to recompense learners.