Terms: Review the Glossary of Terms prior to completing his section.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS as taken from the most recent ACCME Glossary as published in January 2012.
ACCME® GLOSSARY
Activity: A CME activity is an educational offering that is planned, implemented, and evaluated in accordance with the ACCME Accreditation Criteria and accreditation policies.
Commercial Bias: Content or format in a CME activity or its related materials that promotes the products or business lines of an ACCME-defined commercial interest.
Commercial Interest: A commercial interest, as defined by the ACCME, is any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients. The ACCME does not consider providers of clinical service directly to patients to be commercial interests. A commercial interest is not eligible for ACCME accreditation.
Commercial support: Monetary or in-kind contributions given by an ACCME-defined commercial interest to a CME provider that is used to pay all or part of the costs of a CME activity. The ACCME Standards for Commercial SupportSM explains the rules CME providers must follow when receiving and managing commercial support. Revenues that CME providers receive from advertising and exhibits are not considered commercial support.
Conflict of interest: The ACCME considers financial relationships to create conflicts of interest in CME when individuals have both a financial relationship with a commercial interest and the opportunity to affect the content of CME about the products or services of that commercial interest. The potential for maintaining or increasing the value of the financial relationship with the commercial interest creates an incentive to influence the content of the CME—an incentive to insert commercial bias. See also relevant financial relationships.
Relevant financial relationships: The ACCME requires anyone in control of CME content to disclose relevant financial relationships to the accredited provider. Individuals must also include in their disclosure the relevant financial relationships of a spouse or partner. The ACCME defines relevant financial relationships as financial relationships in any amount that create a conflict of interest and that occurred in the twelve-month period preceding the time that the individual was asked to assume a role controlling content of the CME activity. The ACCME has not set a minimal dollar amount—any amount, regardless of how small, creates the incentive to maintain or increase the value of the 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. See also conflict of interest.
Standards for Commercial SupportSM: Standards to Ensure Independence in CME Activities: ACCME requirements designed to ensure that CME activities are independent and free of commercial bias. The Standards comprise six standards: independence, resolution of personal conflicts of interest, appropriate use of commercial support, appropriate management of associated commercial promotion, content and format without commercial bias, and disclosures relevant to potential commercial bias.
Supporter: See commercial interest and commercial support.