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Continuing Education Programs Faculty, Author or Planner Policy

Ineligible Companies

Companies that are ineligible to be accredited in the ACCME System (ineligible companies) are those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, or re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

Ineligible companies cannot take the role of a non-accredited partner in a joint sponsorship relationship.

All decisions regarding OMA continuing medical education programs are made free of the control of any commercial interests. These decisions include identification of CME needs; determination of educational objectives; selection, creation and presentation of content; selection of all persons and organizations that will be in a position to control the content of the CME; selection of educational methods; evaluation of the activity; and any other function that may somehow impact the educational programming.

The ACCME does not consider providers of clinical service directly to patients to be ineligible companies – unless the provider of clinical service is owned, or controlled by, an ACCME-defined ineligible company.

Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest is created when an individual has an opportunity to affect CME content about products or services of a ineligible company with which that individual has a financial relationship.

Financial relationships are those relationships in which the individual benefits by receiving a salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, consulting fee, honoraria for promotional speakers’ bureau, ownership interest (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interest, excluding diversified mutual funds), or other financial benefit. Financial benefits are usually associated with roles such as employment, management position, independent contractor (including contracted research), consulting, speaking and teaching, membership on advisory committees or review panels, board membership, and other activities from which remuneration is received, or expected. OMA considers relationships of the person involved in the CME activity to include financial relationships of a spouse or partner.

  • Anyone who is in a position to control the content of an OMA education activity must disclose all financial relationships with any commercial interest of any amount within the last twelve months.
  • Disclosure of any relevant financial relationship(s) must include the following information:
    • The name of the individual (including spouse or partner);
    • The name of the commercial interest(s);
    • The nature of the relationship that person has with each commercial interest.
  • For an individual with no relevant financial interest(s) the OMA must be informed that no relevant financial relationship(s) exist.
  • An individual who refuses to disclose relevant financial relationships will be disqualified from being a planning committee member, a teacher, or an author of CME, and cannot have control of, or responsibility for, the development, management, presentation or evaluation of the CME activity.
  • The OMA will identify and resolve all conflicts of interest as per the Procedure for Identifying and Resolving Conflicts of Interest.
  • If an identified conflict of interest cannot be resolved, OMA reserves the right to terminate the engagement and will not be liable for any expenses, costs or damages incurred. Additionally this will forfeit any agreed upon honoraria.

Course Content

  • The content or format of an OMA CME activity or its related materials must promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.
  • Presentations must give a balanced view of therapeutic options. Use of generic names will contribute to this impartiality. If the CME educational material or content includes trade names, where available trade names from several companies will be used, not just trade names from a single company.
  • All content is required to be reviewed by the CME Overview Committee prior to the live presentation. The CME Overview Committee (representing OMA) reserves the right to request changes to ensure content is in line with OMA and/or ACCME standards. Examples of why changes might be requested include, but are not limited to, incorrect or outdated data/information, disrespectful images/language, or perceived promotional content.
  • If the OMA’s CME Overview Committee and the faculty and/or author cannot agree on requested changes, OMA reserves the right to terminate the engagement and will not be liable for any expenses, costs or damages incurred. Additionally this will forfeit any agreed upon honoraria.

Disclosures to Learners

  • Disclosures will be made of all relevant financial relationship(s) for faculty, authors, and planners.
  • Those without financial relationship(s) will be listed as such.
  • Disclosures will never include the use of a trade name, logo or a product-group message.
  • Disclosures will be made to learners prior to the beginning of the educational activity.