CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION
quality of CME and the quality of care patients receive, they need to
acknowledge that industry bias occurs in more subtle ways than a drug
company requiring a CME provider to use certain content or speakers. As a
first step, CMS should require disclosure of industry payments to accredited
CME providers, regardless of whether a drug company requires the CME
provider to use certain speakers. Next, Congress should begin taxing
industry support for accredited CME, as the money is more akin to a
marketing budget than charitable donations. Congress should also create a
public-private entity responsible for developing and enforcing standards for
commercial support that are stricter than the ACCME’s standards. This
entity would also be in charge of ensuring that CME topics fill quality gaps,
as well as locating alternative and more permanent sources of funding.
Finally, Congress should consider adopting a CME tax to raise funds for
CME activities in lieu of the current structure obtaining commercial
support. Because CME and industry have become so intertwined over the
past several decades, any solution to reduce or eliminate industry bias will
involve a fundamental restructuring of the way CME is created, funded, and
maintained. Avoiding the problem because the reforms required are too
drastic is not a sufficient reason to let the current regulatory regime
continue at the cost of quality patient care.
