The following policy governs all American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)-produced CME activities.
I. Collection of All Financial Relationships
All individuals in a position to control content must disclose online to the AAFP the existence of any financial relationships they or their spouse or domestic partner have had with ineligible companies within the previous 24 months (36 months for AFP, FPM, and FPE authors, editors, and editorial board members) or might have within the foreseeable future. An ineligible company is defined as one whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Individuals must disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies, regardless of the amount or the potential relevance to the education.
Examples of financial relationships include employee, researcher, consultant, advisor, speaker, independent contractor (including contracted research), royalties or patent beneficiary, and ownership interest. Ownership of individual stocks and stock options should be disclosed; ownership of diversified mutual funds does not need to be disclosed. Research funding from ineligible companies should be disclosed by the principal or named investigator even if that individual’s institution receives the research grant and manages the funds.
Failure or refusal to disclose online by the due date, false disclosure, or the inability to work with the AAFP to mitigate an identified financial relationship will result in withdrawal of the invitation to participate and replacement of the individual. It is necessary to update disclosure information should the status change during the course of the CME activity.
II. Identification of Relevant Financial Relationships
The AAFP will have read-only access to all disclosure forms and will review the submitted information to determine which relationships are relevant to the education. The intent of this policy is not necessarily to prevent individuals from participating, but rather to identify and mitigate any relevant financial relationships to prevent commercial bias.
Owners and employees of ineligible companies must be excluded from controlling content or participating as planners or faculty in accredited education. Three exceptions to this exclusion outlined in ACCME Standard 3.2 may be considered by the AAFP.
III. Mitigation of Relevant Financial Relationships
Should no conflicts of interest be identified, the individual may be confirmed in his or her role in the activity.
Should a relevant financial relationship be identified a mitigation strategy will be assigned and discussed with the individual prior to assuming their role in the activity. Should resolution be impossible, a replacement for the individual must be chosen. Resolution methods will be determined based on the individual’s role in the activity and may include, but not be limited to, one or more of the following:
1. Conduct peer review of the content prior to the activity to ensure it is based on the best available, highest strength evidence available. The activity faculty or authors must be responsive to revision requirements.
2. Assign a different topic for the individual.
3. Limit the scope of the topic the individual may control.
4. Terminate the relationship with the individual.
All mitigation strategies must be implemented prior to the activity. The mitigation process and outcome will be documented in the activity file, with a copy forwarded to the AAFP CME Compliance department for tracking and reporting purposes.
On-site and post-activity audits will be conducted at random to ensure that AAFP CME activities are unbiased and offered in compliance.
IV. Disclosure to Learners
Before a learner engages in the education, the AAFP will disclose all relevant financial relationships, or lack thereof, for all individuals in a position to control content. When disclosing a relevant financial relationship, the following will be shared:
1. Names of the individuals
2. Names of the ineligible companies with which they have relationships
3. The nature of the relationships
4. The topic areas involved
5. A statement that all relevant financial relationships have been mitigated
(August 2021 BC)