Commercial Support and Relevant Financial Relationships in Accredited Continuing Education

Commercial support can help fund high-quality continuing education, but it comes with strict rules. Manage them well and you protect the integrity of your program. Manage them poorly and you risk your accreditation. Here is what health organizations need to know about commercial support and conflict of interest in CME.

What counts as commercial support?

Commercial support is funding, or in-kind resources, provided by an ineligible company to help pay for an accredited education activity. The ACCME defines an ineligible company as one whose primary business is producing, marketing, or selling healthcare products used on patients. Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers are the most common examples.

The line that cannot be crossed

An ineligible company can help fund education, but it cannot control it. That means no influence over content, faculty selection, or how the activity is delivered. The moment a funder shapes the education itself, the activity loses its independence and its accreditation is at risk. Keeping funding and content strictly separate is the core principle behind the rules.

Managing conflict of interest

Every individual who can control content, faculty and planners alike, must disclose their financial relationships with ineligible companies. Relevant relationships then have to be mitigated before the person takes part, for example by having content reviewed by someone without those relationships. Disclosures are then shared with learners before the activity begins.

Who handles all this?

In a joint providership arrangement, your accredited partner manages the required documentation and the disclosure and mitigation process. Flag any commercial support or potential conflicts at the very start of your engagement, and your CE Specialist will walk you through exactly what is needed. Raising it early is far easier than untangling it later.

A simple checklist before you accept funding

• Confirm the funder is not shaping content, faculty, or delivery

• Put a written commercial support agreement in place before the activity

• Collect disclosures from everyone who controls content

• Mitigate relevant financial relationships before those individuals participate

• Disclose funding and relationships to learners up front

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a pharmaceutical company be our joint provider?

No. Ineligible companies, including pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, cannot serve as joint providers regardless of their educational intent. They may provide commercial support under strict rules, but they cannot be the organization offering the education.

Does commercial support have to be disclosed to attendees?

Yes. Learners must be told about commercial support before the activity begins, along with relevant financial relationships of the people who controlled the content.

Will accepting funding slow down our timeline?

It adds a few steps, but it does not have to derail your schedule. Flag it at the start so your partner can build the required documentation into the process from day one.

Sources

• Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education

• Standard 3: Identify, Mitigate, and Disclose Relevant Financial Relationships

Ready to offer accredited CE?

Have commercial support in the mix for an upcoming activity? AwardCE by Quality Insights manages disclosure and mitigation as the accredited provider of record, so the compliance risk never lands on your team. Download our free guide, How to Offer Accredited CE Without Becoming an Accredited Provider, or schedule a free consultation.