Source:
Medical Marketing & Media
ACCME tables logo ban again
Recently, Medical Marketing & Media reported on the decision of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to defer their proposed ban on use of corporate logos in educational materials, disclosures and acknowledgement of commercial support. The article notes that over 225 comments were received by the ACCME regarding the proposal, compared to the 68 responses that were received during a 2011 review period for a similar proposal. The author highlights specifically comments from the Society for CME (SACME), which suggest that the ACCME position "should reflect the principles outlined in the CME Coalition's Responsible Logo Use Guidelines."
Medical Marketing & Media
ACCME tables logo ban again
Recently, Medical Marketing & Media reported on the decision of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to defer their proposed ban on use of corporate logos in educational materials, disclosures and acknowledgement of commercial support. The article notes that over 225 comments were received by the ACCME regarding the proposal, compared to the 68 responses that were received during a 2011 review period for a similar proposal. The author highlights specifically comments from the Society for CME (SACME), which suggest that the ACCME position "should reflect the principles outlined in the CME Coalition's Responsible Logo Use Guidelines."
The article also includes comments from the CME Coalition's Andy Rosenberg, who applauded ACCME for delaying the decision, and notes that the Council is "clearly taking into account the stakeholder concern that we see among our membership for removing logos from the material." The Coalition continues to maintain that the use of corporate logos provides transparency and disclosure to learners on educational grants obtained from corporate supporters in furtherance of an educational activity.
“This time around, the response was considerably larger. The accreditor began accepting public comments on whether to adopt the prohibition this past December.
By the time the comment period closed January 31, the ACCME had received responses from 227 people, about a third of which opposed the change. In addition, an informal online survey fielded last spring, prior to the formal call for comment, drew about 300 mostly supportive responses.
However, those in favor of holding onto logos included a couple of organizations representing thousands of members. The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS), with 39 Member Societies representing 750,000 physicians in the US, said removing logos could be "counterproductive," while the Society for CME (SACME) said that the ACCME position should reflect the principles outlined in the CME Coalition's Responsible Logo Use Guidelines.
The proposal was tabled “pending further discussion,” the accreditor said last week, a move cheered by some in the CME community.
“The CME Coalition applauds the ACCME for the deliberative and thoughtful way that it's approaching this issue and appreciates that they're clearly taking into account the stakeholder concern that we see among our membership for removing logos from the material,” said Andy Rosenberg, senior advisor to the coalition, whose membership includes 12 CME companies and six pharmaceutical companies that support certified med ed.
