According to the Executive Summary of the March, 2009 Board Meeting of Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the ACCME will not be taking any action to end the commercial support of accredited continuing medical education (CME). The calls for comments were almost unanimous in their support of commercial support for CME. This shows that the ACCME has paid attention to both those who provide CME and physicians who receive the CME credit. It also serves as a vindication for those of us who have labored to deliver quality CME, that collaboration is beneficial to physicians receiving CME credit and patients receiving care from commercially supported CME. Other items coming out of the Report include: The ACCME believes that the CME system’s internal controls provided by the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support and associated ACCME policies, support the development of independent continuing medical education that: a) is free of commercial bias; and b) does not result in an inclination by professionals to direct care that is unwarranted or unnecessary.” · The ACCME “will consider creating a new designation and review process for providers that wish to identify their program of CME as ‘Commercial Support Free’ and/or ‘Promotional Teacher and Author Free’.” · “The ACCME will consider creating an independent granting entity that will accept unconditional and unrestricted donations, from all U.S. sources, that will be distributed to ACCME-recognized and accredited organizations to be used for the development and presentation of ACCME-compliant continuing medical education,” (setting up a non-profit to provide for additional resources, such as research and education in CME). · According to John Kamp, Executive Director of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication, these decisions demonstrate that a significant body of CME leaders from academic, hospital and government organizations, believes that commercial support for CME provides a great benefit for physician learners and their patients. While Macy Foundation, journal editors, academics and other "scholars" campaign to eliminate commercial support from their lofty perches, the folks with experience and expertise getting these programs done focus on improvements that advance patient care rather the pursuit of academic purity. With this guidance and clarity, CME providers will strive even further, to provide education that is free of commercial bias, and education that serves patients and practitioners using highly developed educational methods. Medical Marketing and Media: ACCME Won’t Ban Industry Funding of CME
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