Providers, planners, and faculty sometimes believe that CME content is not relevant to a financial relationship if there are no products directly mentioned. However, CME content does not have to explicitly mention or promote the business lines or products of an ineligible company for there to be an opportunity for bias.
ACCME’s Standard 3 requires that all accredited continuing education providers identify which financial relationships are relevant. The Standard asks that you:
“Review [the] information about financial relationships to determine which relationships are relevant. Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.”
The words “related to” are helpful to keep in mind as you look to identify potential bias. If a speaker’s presentation does not mention the business lines or products of an ineligible company, could it still be “related to” them? Could the content still have bias?
It definitely could! If a person has the opportunity to sway a learner, intentionally or unintentionally, toward the products of the company they have a relationship with, then that relationship could bias the content. In this case, you’ll need to take action, using your usual mitigation tools for speakers.
Accreditation Tips:
- Educational content does not have to directly mention the business lines or products of an ineligible company for there to be an opportunity for bias.
- Planners can also sway the content without mentioning business lines or products in this same manner. You’ll want to handle that in the same way by determining if their relationships are relevant and mitigating using planner-appropriate mitigation strategies.
- If you’re not sure if a relationship is related to the specific content of your activity, consult with the activity’s subject matter expert who was involved in the planning process. They can use their clinical expertise and knowledge of the content to help you. You might also want to consider seeking input from medical professionals within your network who can similarly help you make your determination.
You can also visit our website here to find examples of content that is or is not related to the business lines of the ineligible company.
