In the Interest of Patients

How often are physicians "influenced" by their financial relationships with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or medical device companies? Are they "prescribing under the influence?" Or, do they have enough common sense to be objective and practice evidence-based medicine even if they have financial relationships with industry?

The AAMC has released a report titled, "In the Interest of Patients: Recommendations for Physician Financial Relationships and Clinical Decision Making."

This new report by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) urges U.S. teaching hospitals to establish policies that manage financial relationships between physicians and industry so they do not influence patient care. "In the Interest of Patients: Recommendations for Physician Financial Relationships and Clinical Decision Making" provides guidance on how academic medical centers can identify, evaluate, and disclose conflicts of interest in clinical care.

You can access the report here: http://www.aamc.org/clinicalcoi

The AAMC also published a report in 2008 titled, “Industry Funding of Medical Education: Report of an AAMC Task Force.”  Meanwhile, the Physician Payment Sunshine Act will certainly lead to a greater level of transparency regarding the financial relationships between physicians and industry. Will it be enough?

CMSS Code for Interactions with Industry

The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) represents 32 medical professional societies. This roughly translates to a membership of over 650,000 U.S. physicians.

Last month, the CMSS released the CMSS Code of Interaction with Industry. This voluntary code calls for independent and transparent interactions between medical specialty organizations and industry.

Here's a snippet from the April 21 press release:

“CMSS is committed to encouraging and supporting a culture of integrity, voluntary self-regulation and transparency,” said Dr. James Scully, CMSS President and CEO of the American Psychiatric Association.  “This code provides a clear benchmark for maintaining integrity and independence.”

Click here (PDF) to view the CMSS Code of Interaction with Industry.

AMA on Ethics and CME

The CME (Continuing Medical Education) industry has gone through some significant changes over the last several years. Have you been keeping up with all the changes?

The American Medical Association (AMA) Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) recently released a report titled, "Financial Relationships with Industry in Continuing Medical Education." This report outlines the ethics of industry supported education - according to the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA).

Please note that advisory report will be up for consideration at the AMA's upcoming annual House of Delegates meeting. This report is not necessarily the AMA's take/perspective/position on ethics and CME.

Here's the bottom line from the CEJA report:

• It is ethically preferable to accept funding only from non-commercial supporters (this would probably mean that doctors would have to pay for their CME credits).
• It is ethically permissible to accept funding from commercial supporters (such as pharmaceutical companies, biotech, medical device, etc.). This generally leads to free CME.
  

The world of medicine is constantly changing and physicians need every opportunity to keep up with the latest clinical development. If they have to pay for CME, will they be less inclined to learn? Does the abundant supply of free CME cause physicians to practice evidence-based medicine? How does free CME impact patient outcomes?

IOM

The IOM has recently come out with some recommendations regarding the relationships between healthcare professionals and industry. I'm still reading and digesting, so I'm not going to provide any comments right now, but stay tuned...

Joining Government with Industry to Discuss Health Issues

What happens when you combine government with industry to talk about health issues related to quality of care, compliance, cost, and partnerships? You end up with roundtable reports published by the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA). They have some recent roundtable reports where industry representatives discussed some important quality and compliance issues with the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG).

The most recent HCCA/OIG roundtable report is titled:

A Report on the HHS Office of Inspector General and Health Care Compliance Association Roundtable on Hospital Board of Directors’ Oversight of Quality of Care
Driving for Quality in Acute Care: A Board of Directors Dashboard

Past HCCA/OIG roundtable reports include:

A Report on the Office of Inspector General and Health Care Compliance Association Roundtable on Long-Term Care Board of Directors’ Oversight of Quality of Care
December 6, 2007

A Summary of the Government-Industry Roundtable on the
Role of Governance in Compliance Programs
June 16, 2004, Office of Inspector General

HCCA/OIG Rountable Report
Building a Partnership for Effective Compliance
July, 2001

HCCA/OIG Physician Roundtable Report
Building a Partnership for Effective Compliance
July, 2000

CIA Survey
August 2001

Drug Discovery & Development of Innovative Therapeutics

Drug Discovery & Development of Innovative Therapeutics is the ONE conference that continues, year after year, to bring together cutting edge scientists, leading academia, and the world's top drug discovery and development experts - all in one place, at one time.

August 4-7, 2008
World Trade Center Boston
& Seaport Hotel
Boston, MA

Highlights for 2008:

• Pre-Event Online Partnering System: A Community to Schedule Meetings Prior to the Conference
• New Expanded Areas of Content in 2008: Orphan Disease, Anti-Infectives, Imaging, Cardiovascular Disease
• FDA Keynote Panel on Biomarker Qualification
• Keynote Panel on Politics and Change in Pharma/Biotech

Register here: http://www.drugdisc.com/

Register Now for the 19th Annual Conference on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration

Register Now for the 19th Annual Conference of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration

Online registration is now available for the 19th Annual Conference on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration, titled "Certified CME for Better Patient Care: Navigating the Regulatory Environment," to be held October 21-23, 2008 in Baltimore, MD. View the complete program and register online

Going Back to School

I seem to be meeting more clinicians who are going back to school to learn about business. The problem is that medical school really doesn't prepare you for the 'real world' often encountered in the healthcare industry. Furthermore, many clinicians who are interested in pursuing non-clinical careers are looking into part-time and online business school opportunities.

I love being a student. I'm a lifelong learner and I like to read and learn about new things. Maybe I'll enroll for some classes this fall if I can justify spending all that money for the coursework. Wouldn't it be great if you could take classes for FREE? Well, in some ways you can. There are many lectures that get posted online. Look on YouTube or do a Google search and you may find something very interesting.

For example, MIT offers FREE courses here:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

Med schools asked to shun drug firm freebies

The Assn. of American Medical Colleges also wants schools to ban or limit drug industry programs such as speakers' bureaus. Free lunches, pens or trips to resorts from drug companies should not be accepted. A report by the Assn. of American Medical Colleges calls for these and other restrictions to limit drug and medical device companies' interactions at the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals. The report's recommendations seek to free the educational environment of industry marketing activities, put buffers in place when industry funding is accepted, and distance physicians and trainees from sales representatives' influence, medical leaders said.AAMC Chief Scientific Officer David Korn, MD, said the recommendations were prompted by concerns that industry funding is increasingly eroding the objectivity and integrity of medical education...

So what do you think?

Discuss on Sermo