CME Funding: Do we need to change how we fund CME?

Imagine we are deciding where to go for dinner and we ask the cab driver where we should go. Here are 5 scenarios:
  1. The restaurants pay the cab driver's salary.
  2. The cab driver receives funds from restaurants, but we don't know about it.
  3. We know the cab driver receives funds from restaurants, but we don't know how much or
    We know that the cab driver doesn't receive money from restaurants.
  4. We know that the cab driver receives money and we can go to the Internet to figure out exactly how much in money or other gifts the cab driver receives from restaurants.
Here is how it matches up the CME equivalent:
  1. Remote past: Speakers who are employees of pharma companies have an obvious conflict of interest. This is no longer allowed for CME.
  2. Pre-disclosure rules: Speakers who are paid by pharma companies, but don't tell us, is no longer acceptable for CME credit.
  3. Current state of CME: Speakers are grouped into those who receive an unknown amount of funds or no funds whatsoever. Sources of funds are identified but not amount or type of compensation.
  4. Starting September 2013: Compensation amount to speakers is public and will be known, but the amount is not required as a part of disclosure. Learners will need to figure it out on their own. (Sunshine Act)
Reference
  1. Physician Payment Sunshine provisions included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (H.R. 3590, section 6002) 
  2. ACCME. ACCME 2010 Annual Report Data. Available at: http://www.accme.org/dir_docs/doc_upload/e7520312-92c3-4969-acf0-bdf4c5b8d289_uploaddocument.pdf
Copyright 2011, Bradley Tanner