Commercial Interests in Continuing Medical Education: Where Do Electronic Health Record Vendors Fit?

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) will not accredit an organization that it defines as a commercial interest, that is an entity that produces, markets, resells, or distributes health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients. Thus, commercial interests are not eligible to be accredited organizations offering continuing medical education (CME) credit to physicians. This decision is based on the concern that commercial interests may use CME events to market their products or services to physicians, who then might inappropriately prescribe or administer those products or services to patients. Studies have shown that CME events supported by pharmaceutical companies, for example, have influenced physicians’ prescribing behaviors.
Source: Academic Medicine - Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Perspectives Source Type: research