CME Coalition |

Sunshine Act Resources Center

On Friday, February 1, CMS announced the final regulations to implement the Sunshine Act. Listening to the majority of comments with respect to the CME industry, CMS exempted payments provided as compensation for speaking at a continuing education if certain conditions are met—which are consistent with the ACCME’s accreditation standards and standards for commercial support. The final rule is available here.

The CME Coalition released this press release applauding CMS decision.

We believe that this decision recognizes the adequacy of current protections against bias in CME, and acknowledges CME’s special role in educating physicians and improving patient outcomes. By limiting CME support payments from the reporting rules required of direct physician payments, CMS has made it clear that pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and other commercial supporters should not be discouraged from underwriting accredited CME activities.

Follow @CMECoalition

To Join the CME Coalition, Click Here!

Our Members

Rockpointe is a science-based medical communications company whose clinical specialists, educators, and producers collaborate with national thought leaders to create integrated educational initiatives that are innovative, engaging, and clinically relevant.

Celgene is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to improving the lives of patients worldwide. Celgene's mission is to build a major global biopharmaceutical corporation while focusing on the discovery, the development, and the commercialization of products for the treatment of cancer and other severe, immune, inflammatory conditions.

The North American Center for Continuing Medical Education (NACCME) is committed to developing and disseminating CME activities to provide an educational forum through which healthcare practitioners may examine current medical issues, therapies, and technologies. The content of NACCME-sponsored CME activities is designed to bridge the gap between current and best healthcare practices and to improve healthcare quality by strengthening practitioner awareness of evidence-based patient care advances in a broad range of therapeutic areas.

Medscape Education targets and engages members across 33 healthcare specialties, and combines proprietary technology, instructional expertise, and measureable impact to accelerate the adoption of scientific advances into practice. Medscape Education continually innovates to better address clinician needs in order to improve the care and outcomes of patients. Medscape, LLC is ACCME-, ANCC-, and ACPE-accredited, and a leading online provider of continuing professional education.

CPEA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to being the forum for bringing clinical practitioners and patients together. With education, information, and collaboration networks, CPEA helps healthcare practitioners and patients build bridges in several therapeutic Communities of Care.

Since 2003, Global has tapped the power of partnership. Our strategic alliances with more than 20 academic centers, professional societies, and others ensure independence, performance, and continuous improvement for learners. Our staff includes experts in accreditation and regulatory guidelines, adult learning and outcomes, medicine, meeting planning, and project management.

The Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. is a nonprofit organization with an international membership of 2,500 health professionals, lay members of the community, corporate members, and institutional members. The ABC is dedicated to eliminating the disparities related to cardiovascular disease in all people of color. The Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

The National Association of Medical Education Companies, Inc., (NAMEC) is a professional association dedicated to providing representation, advocacy, and education for its members. In the past, there has been no organized voice for medical education and communications companies (MECCs). In the ever-changing and complicated medical education and communications environment, NAMEC functions as a representative and advocate of the industry.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is a leading global pharmaceutical company, committed to increasing access to high-quality healthcare by developing, producing and marketing affordable generic drugs as well as innovative and specialty pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Teva is the world's largest generic drug maker, with a global product portfolio of more than 1,300 molecules and a direct presence in about 60 countries.

Clinical Care Options (CCO) creates innovative, interactive continuing medical education programs that anticipate and meet the needs of healthcare professionals. CCO's expertise in CME, technology solutions, and clinical knowledge allows it to rapidly deliver the highest quality content simultaneously online, in print, and at live meetings, in the service of improving patient care.

Educational Concepts Group specializes in continuing education programs for oncology and hematology professionals. Since 2003, ECG has been one of the leading medical education providers in the United States, delivering instructive programs in a variety of formats targeted toward healthcare professionals who are charged with treating patients with solid tumors or hematologic disorders and malignancies.

Horizon Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company, provides Medical Education Grants in support of specific educational activities for health care professionals and consumers to provide for better management of chronic conditions and patient safety. Horizon Pharma supports innovative, high-quality, educational activities, sponsorships, etc, for health care professionals and consumers that target unmet needs, foster clinical excellence and impact areas of concern for consumers and health care professionals.

The Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) delivers effective continuing medical education activities that are designed to contribute to the professional development of physicians, as well as other healthcare professionals, support their lifelong learning process and positively impact the delivery of care. PIM fulfills this mission by forming successful alliances and working in collaboration with carefully vetted education partners to deliver learning experiences that address the educational needs underlying the identified professional practice gaps of their learners.

HealthmattersCME is a minority-owned and operated, full-service medical education/communications company. They provide unique and customized CME/CE-certified programming for health care professionals supported by unrestricted educational grants from the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries.

Vindico Medical Education is solely dedicated to delivering the highest quality and immediately relevant educational programs. These activities provide health care professionals with information on clinical advances they need to better treat their patients. Vindico delivers the highest quality and relevant educational programs and activities to physicians and other health care providers, with the ultimate goal of improving patient health.

Genentech uses human genetic information to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize medicines to treat patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. Today, Genentech is among the world's leading biotech companies, with multiple products on the market and a promising development pipeline.

Sanofi, a diversified global healthcare leader, discovers, develops, and distributes therapeutic solutions to improve the lives of everyone. Sanofi works to prevent and treat the diseases that we know of today, as well as those we may face tomorrow. With nearly 100,000 dedicated professionals in more than 100 countries, Sanofi is devoted to advancing healthcare around the world.

What is CME?

Continuing medical education (CME) refers to a range of educational programs provided by trained professionals that helps health care providers to maintain their competence and to learn about new technologies, procedures and developing areas of their field. Content for these programs is developed, reviewed, and delivered by faculty who are experts in their individual clinical areas. Similar to the process used in academic journals, any potentially conflicting financial relationships for faculty members must be disclosed and addressed appropriately. The CME Coalition is a collection of health care providers, companies, institutions and academics committed to the pursuit of sensible policies designed to promote responsible CME.

Weekly Healthcare Update for May 13, 2013

Weekly Recap

Last week marked another busy week on Capitol Hill and lawmakers turned their focus to economic and budget issues. On Thursday, the House voted 221-207 to approve the Full Faith and Credit Act (H.R. 807), a bill to allow borrowing above the debt limit for reasons related to Social Security and interest on the debt. On Wednesday, the chamber voted 223-204 for a bill (H.R. 1406) aimed at giving private-sector workers the option of using overtime for paid time off instead of taking extra pay. In the Senate, members approved online tax legislation, the Marketplace Fairness Act (S. 743), in a 69-27 vote last Monday. The Senate also debated amendments to the Water Resources Development Act (S. 601) and cleared several judicial nominations.

Weekly Healthcare Update for May 6, 2013

Weekly Recap

The House and Senate were in recess last week. Lawmakers returned to Washington today, with both chambers set to tackle economic issues. The House will take up the Full Faith and Credit Act (H.R. 807), a bill to allow borrowing above the debt limit for reasons related to Social Security and interest on the debt. House Republicans will also use the week to consider a bill (H.R. 1406) aimed at giving private-sector workers more flexibility. In the Senate, members will vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act (S. 743), a bill that would let states collect sales taxes for online purchases. The Senate is also likely to hold a procedural vote on the Water Resources Development Act (S. 601).