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Learn MoreIn an article in the May 2014 issue of Compliance Today, Bill Sacks, Vice President and co-founder of HCCS, a HealthStream company, describes how new NIH regulations are forcing academic medical centers (AMCs) to examine and update their conflict-of-interest policies. He lists the 15 best practices for management of conflicts of interest that have been proposed by the Pew Charitable Trust and discusses how some of these recommendations are enjoying wide acceptance, as others are being met by serious objections. The Pew “Best Practice” recommendations are summarized below.
1. No gifts or meals should be accepted from industry sales representatives. Recognizing that even small gifts can influence the behavior of physicians and that accepting gifts looks bad, accepting no gifts is the best option for academic medical center staff.
2. Faculty must disclose all conflicts of interest. All academic medical centers must have a process in place to manage conflict of interest (COI) disclosures.
3. Industry-funded speaking should not be allowed. To avoid any appearance of impropriety, it is preferable to limit or prohibit industry funding of speaking engagements directed toward other faculty, students, patients or the public.
4. Industry-funding of continuing medical education (CME) should be severely limited or prohibited. Industry funding of CME tends to bias topic choices and content in favor of the sponsors’ products and therapeutic areas.
5. Faculty, students, and trainees should not attend industry-supported promotional or educational events. As another way to avoid any appearance or possibility of bias, clinical staff should be prohibited from attending events that are not primarily for education and are directly funded by industry.
6. Limit or prohibit pharmaceutical sales representative access in academic medical centers. Most academic medical centers restrict the presence of pharmaceutical reps. To avoid bias or the appearance of bias, this presence should be very limited or even prohibited.
7. Limit medical device representative presence in academic medical centers to what is necessary. Academic medical centers should restrict medical device manufacturer reps access to what is required for successful implementation and use of devices and equipment that have already been bought.
8. Conflict-of-interest education should be required for all clinical staff and students. Given its increased importance, conflict of interest training must be a mandatory and periodic requirement for everyone teaching, learning, and working at an academic medical center.
9. Conflict-of-interest policies should apply to everyone with a relationship to the academic medical center—paid, volunteering, affiliated, etc. To avoid any appearance of impropriety mandated conflict-of-interest policies should apply to everyone involved with the academic medical center.
10. Industry-supported clinical fellowships should be available for scientific training only. Industry-sponsored fellowships for clinical training should not be accepted by academic medical centers, but they may accept funding for scientific training under certain circumstances.
11. Ghostwriting and honorary authorship are strictly prohibited. Companies funding research should have no influence over the test of articles or determining which results get published in academic journals.
12. Faculty and trainees can engage in consulting relationships for research and scientific activities with pharmaceutical and device companies about research and scientific matters. Consulting arrangements must require written contracts with clear deliverables, to ensure that inappropriate payments are not involved. All research faculty must report any consulting payments on their annual Conflict of Interest Disclosure Forms.
13. Consulting relationships for marketing purposes are prohibited. Academic medical centers must establish policies that prohibit faculty involvement in developing promotional material or marketing strategies.
14. Pharmaceutical samples can be accepted and used only when they don’t become marketing tools. Academic medical centers must develop policies that guide clinicians’ ability to accept and distribute pharmaceutical samples in ways that do not constitute marketing of the product.
15. Members of pharmacy and therapeutics committee cannot vote on formulary or treatment changes involving a company or product in which they have a financial interest. The pharmacy and therapeutics committee of a healthcare organization must make decisions based on the best interests of the institution and not be unduly influenced by the financial relationships or other considerations of members.
Conclusion
Academic medical centers face multiple challenges and serious considerations in their efforts to address potential conflicts of interest. These recommendations by the Pew Charitable Trust provide a resource to AMC’s as they formulate policies and procedures to identify and manage real and potential conflicts of interest.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceBe confident in your staff’s ability to reduce risk by providing compliance training that changes behavior.
View All ProductsDevelop next-level people for next-level care by prioritizing quality and safety improvements.
View All ProductsStandardize policy and procedure management with an automated, customized, and centralized system.
View All ProductsEstablish a culture of belonging with education supporting DEI, wellness, engagement, and leadership development.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementStreamline the revenue cycle management process and protect your bottom line with expert-backed education.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ProductsUnlocking the full potential of clinicians goes beyond aspiration – it’s a commitment we embody. Our competency development solutions help personalize learning for every clinician so you can confidently bridge the gap between theory and practice for your nurse residents while meeting the unique development needs of your seasoned clinician.
View All ProductsEnhance maternal & child nursing care with solutions focused on improving the quality of care for mothers, infants, and children.
View All ProductsAddress staffing challenges, standardize orientation and onboarding, and deliver an effective training program for your team to easily achieve and maintain certification with our critical, emergency, and acute care solutions.
View All ProductsWe understand the critical importance of earning and maintaining your patients' trust in the delivery of exceptional sedation and surgical outcomes. As a premier provider of healthcare education, we are committed to empowering you in promoting safer, more successful outcomes for each and every patient, without exception.
View All ProductsOur solutions are meticulously designed to cater to the diverse needs of patients, healthcare professionals, and organizations. Within this innovative framework, we have curated specialized subsets of solutions aimed at addressing the ever-evolving challenges faced by individuals dealing with illnesses or chronic conditions.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All SchedulingHealthcare workforce management is essential. We provide advanced scheduling solutions for organizations to solve issues such as nurse retention
View All ProductsComprehensive, industry-leading provider onboarding and credentialing software that validate health outcomes and support provider assessment.
View All CredentialingOur affordable CVO credentialing services establish patient safety by enabling primary source verification for your healthcare organization.
View All ProductsIntegrate with Epic to validate and add new providers directly to your provider master file.
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