The client needed objective data to demonstrate to senior leadership that the policies and procedures for determining grant funding did not introduce any commercial bias or influence into those programs and activities. Furthermore, they needed to demonstrate that the resulting activities were also free of commercial bias.
Key: Identification of Bias
The senior director of the IME department chose CME Peer Review because of their independence from commercial interests, their experience and expertise in reviewing grant policies and procedures, and their national network of medical professionals who are rigorously trained as monitors and auditors for CME activities.
The client requested that CME Peer Review begin the process by conducting an initial “Pilot” program that would include reviewing the existing policies and procedures for determining grant funding and monitoring a representative group of CME activities (both live and enduring). All activities chosen for review were conducted and released within a single quarter to establish an initial baseline of data.
It was confirmed that the grant policies and procedures process, as well, as the resulting activities were truly independent and free of commercial bias. These findings were presented to senior leadership, including the US President, VP Medical Affairs, the Chief Compliance Officer, and the IME and compliance departments.
The senior leadership, compliance and IME departments were very satisfied with the process and results of this initial pilot project. The IME department used the aggregate data as a value statement to petition for additional CME grant funding. In addition, the compliance department generated a multi-year contract to CME Peer Review to monitor grant funded activities on a regular basis. The IME department established certain parameters, such as types of activities, therapeutic categories, number of audits per year, etc. The results of the audits are collected and reported on a scheduled basis. This validated the CME grant funding process and enabled the procurement of additional CME grant funds.