Guidelines for Managing Commercial Support of CPD Activities

The National Standard for Support of Accredited CPD Activities

The Conseil québécois de développement professionnel continu des médecins (CQDPCM) - Quebec Code of Ethics

The intent of the National Standard for Support of Accredited CPD Activities is to safeguard the integrity of accredited/certified CPD activities from the influence of commercial interest/activity sponsors that could lead to bias. Additionally, the requirements of the Code of Ethics of the CQDPCM must be met for activities that are held in the province of Québec that are co-developed via the McGill CPD Office and/or are seeking Mainpro+ certification.

The CPD standards listed below apply to all activities where financial and in-kind support (for-profit / not-for-profit) was accepted and utilized towards the development, delivery, and implementation of a CPD activity. Adherence to the standards is required for obtaining accreditation/certification approval.

Receiving Financial and in-kind Support

The standards listed below provide a description of the requirements for the Scientific Planning Committee (SPC) and/or Physician Organization (PO) in receiving and distributing financial and in-kind support.

  • The SPC and/or PO is responsible to receive any financial and in-kind support for the CPD activity.
  • The SPC and/or PO cannot be required to accept advice from a commercial interest/activity sponsor as a condition of receiving financial and in-kind support. Specific interests of any commercial interest/activity sponsor must have no direct or indirect influence on any elements linked to the development, delivery, or evaluation of an accredited/certified CPD activity.
  • The terms, conditions, and purposes by which financial support is provided must be documented in a written agreement signed by the SPC and/or PO and the commercial interest/activity sponsor.
  • The PO and/or SPC can assume or delegate to a third party the payment of travel, lodging, legitimate out of pocket expenses and any honoraria offered to members of the SPC, speakers, moderators, facilitators and/or authors. NOTE: these payments cannot be delegated to a commercial interest/activity sponsor. However, the payment of logistical expenses (audiovisual arrangements, venue rental fees, catering, etc.) may be delegated to a commercial interest/activity sponsor.
  • The SPC and/or PO must retain overall accountability for all payments.
  • Participants (who are not members of the SPC, speakers, moderators, facilitators and/or authors) cannot accept payment or subsidies for their travel, lodging or other out of pocket expenses to participate in an accredited/certified CPD activity.
  • The travel, lodging or other out of pocket expenses of spouses, partners or other family members of the SPC, speakers, moderators, facilitators, authors or participants cannot be paid for or subsidized by the PO, commercial interest/activity sponsor or any organization hired by a commercial interest/activity sponsor.
  • Social events associated with CPD activities cannot occur at times or locations that would interfere/compete with or takes precedence over accredited/certified activities.
  • The SPC and/or PO has an obligation to ensure that their interactions with sponsors meet professional and legal standards including the protection of privacy, confidentiality, copyright, and contractual law regulations.

Recognizing Financial and in-kind Support

The standards listed below provide a description of the requirements for the SPC and/or PO in recognizing financial and in-kind support received from commercial interest/activity sponsors.

  • The SPC must recognize and acknowledge financial and in-kind support received from commercial interest/activity sponsors on promotional materials separate from educational content.
  • The standard acknowledgement statement to be used verbatim: “This program has received an educational grant or in-kind support from (names of commercial interest/activity sponsor)”

Managing Commercial Promotion

This section defines the requirements related to exhibits and the types of materials that can and cannot be displayed.

  • Product-specific advertising, tagging or branding strategies cannot be included on, appear within, or be adjacent to:
  • any educational materials, slides, abstracts, and handouts used as part of an accredited/certified CPD activity
  • activity agendas, programs, or calendars of events (preliminary and final)
  • any webpages or electronic media containing educational material
  • Product-specific advertising, promotional materials or branding strategies cannot be included on/appear within locations where accredited/certified CPD sessions are occurring (e.g. lecture halls, small group discussion rooms) immediately before, during or immediately after an accredited/certified CPD activity.
  • Commercial exhibits or advertisements must be arranged in a location that is clearly and completely separate from the accredited/certified CPD activity.
  • The SPC/PO cannot be required by an exhibitor or activity sponsor to accept advice concerning the CPD activity’s development, delivery or evaluation as a condition of their exhibit or advertisement. Specific interests of any exhibitor or activity sponsor must have no direct or indirect influence on any aspect of the CPD activity’s development, delivery, or evaluation.
  • Any incentive provided to participants associated with an accredited/certified CPD activity must be approved by the SPC and/or PO.

Additionally, for activities held in Quebec, co-developed via the McGill CPD Office and/or are seeking Mainpro+ certification, the CQDPCM Code of Ethics must be followed.

Compliance for the development, delivery, and implementation of accredited and non-accredited activities:

  • It is not permissible to include logos within the header or footer for PowerPoint slides, handouts, etc.
  • It is not permissible to use colors and/or color schemes commonly associated with a company and/or one or more of its products for PowerPoint slides, handouts, etc.
  • Funding organizations must be listed together in one location at the same time in the activity materials without logos; the names must all be the same size; the names must all be the same font.
  • Funding organizations booths should be located in a separate room from conference rooms where education content is being presented.

Draws, Prizes and Other Incentives

  • The prize must be an acceptable educational tool and have an educational purpose which is awarded for the primary purpose of helping a healthcare professional and his/her patient, and not to provide anyone with a personal advantage.
  • Passports that are given out to increase traffic at a trade show are prohibited.

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