We are looking forward to having the opportunity to include you accredited continuing education by the OTA.
The OTA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). We appreciate your help in partnering with us to follow accreditation guidelines and help us create high-quality education that is independent of industry influence. In order to participate as a person who will be able to control the educational content of this accredited CE activity, we ask that you disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies that you have had over the past 24 months.
We define ineligible companies as those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. There is no minimum financial threshold; you must disclose all financial relationships, regardless of the amount, with ineligible companies. We ask you to disclose regardless of whether you view the financial relationships as relevant to the education. For more information on the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, please visit http://www.accme.org/standards.
I have disclosed prior, what’s changed? As of January 1, 2022, the ACCME has implemented new Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Due to these new Standards, there are a few changes that affect your regular Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosure. These changes are outlined below:
- You must disclose all financial relationships within 24 months (instead of 12 months) and you must include if the relationships still exists or if it has ended;
- You no longer need to include information about your spouse or partner’s financial relationships;
- “Commercial Interests” are now called “ineligible entities,” and the definition of ineligible entities is available here.
Guidance for Stocks:
- Individuals who own stock (not through a mutual fund or pension plan) in privately held ineligible companies are considered owners or employees. When submitting your disclosure, if you own stock in privately held ineligible companies, please enter that within the “Other financial or material support” field and indicate that this is a privately held stock.
- Individuals who own stock in publicly traded ineligible companies are not considered owners or employees. You may enter this in the field “Do you own stock or stock options in any pharmaceutical, biomaterial or orthopaedic device or equipment company, or supplier (excluding mutual funds).”
Why do we collect this information? Since healthcare professionals serve as the trusted authorities when advising patients, they must protect their learning environment from industry influence to ensure they remain true to their ethical commitments. Many healthcare professionals have financial relationships with ineligible companies. By identifying and mitigating relevant financial relationships, we work together to create a protected space to learn, teach, and engage in scientific discourse free from influence from organizations that may have an incentive to insert commercial bias into education. What are the next steps in this process? After we receive your disclosure information, we will review it to determine whether your financial relationships are relevant to the education. Please note: the identification of relevant financial relationships does not necessarily mean that you are unable to participate in the planning and implementation of this educational activity. Rather, the accreditation standards require that relevant financial relationships are mitigated before you assume your role in this activity. To help us meet these expectations, please use the form we have provided to share all financial relationships you have had with ineligible companies during the past 24 months. This information is necessary in order for us to be able to move to the next steps in planning this continuing education activity.
If you have questions about these expectations please contact Alanna Kaiser, Director of Education, at kaiser@ota.org.
To review the process that OTA follows to comply with CME Disclosure and ACCME Standards, click here.