Nov. 19, 2012 – At its recent Interim Meeting, the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) House of Delegates voted to clarify the AMA’s ethical guidance on continuing medical education (CME), according to a Nov. 16 posting on Policy and Medicine. The AMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) made revisions that are consistent with many industry standards – such as codes established by AdvaMed and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) – as well as the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Commercial Support.

“The AMA did the right thing here by encouraging physicians to participate in continuing education programs that meet existing ACCME and PhRMA guidelines,” said Coalition for Healthcare Communication Executive Director John Kamp. He indicated that the AMA should have gone a step further to recognize the value of other industry-supported education, including REMS and other education sessions regulated by the FDA. “But it”s still a good step forward,” Kamp remarked.

Policy and Medicine”s Thomas Sullivan, who is president and founder of the medical education company Rockpointe Corp., told the Coalition that “physicians and patients have greatly benefited from educational programs supported by industry. This ethical opinion shows AMA’s continued commitment to companies contributing back to medicine by supporting accredited CME.”

Sullivan added that “it is helpful for physicians to not have confusion between the ACCME and AMA, and these changes by CEJA bring the AMA ethical opinions in line with the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support.”

To view the full Policy and Medicine article, go to: http://www.policymed.com/2012/11/ama-ceja-ama-house-of-delegates-passes-clarification-to-align-with-accme-standards-for-commercial-su.html