Following are a few of the main guidelines for CME providers issued by the American Council for Continuing Medical Education:
- CME providers must have a written statement of the CME mission, which includes the CME purpose, content areas, target audience, type of activities provided, and expected results of the program.
- CME providers must ensure that the following decisions were made free of commercial interest: identification of CME needs: determination of education objectives; selection 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 education methods; and evaluation of the activity.
- The CME provider must be able to show that everyone who is in a position to control the content of an education activity has disclosed all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest to the provider.
- Social events or meals at CME activities cannot compete with or take precedence over the educational events.
- The CME provider may not use commercial support to pay for travel, lodging, honoraria, or personal expenses for non-teacher or non-author participants of a CME activity.
- The CME provider must be able to produce accurate documentation detailing the receipt and expenditure of the commercial support.
- Arrangements for commercial exhibits or advertisements cannot influence planning or interfere with the presentation nor can they be a condition of the provision of commercial support for CME activities.
- The content or format of a 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.
- The source of all support from commercial interests must be disclosed to learners.