ALEXANDRIA, VA - Continuing Medical Education providers can now validate their content easily, using a new independent peer review service. Provided by the newly formed company CME Peer Review, LLC, it is the first turnkey service dedicated to independent evaluation of CE activities for integrity and compliance.
CME Peer Review was founded by veteran CE professional Jane M. Ruppenkamp and physician Rosemarie D. Rose, MD, JD, in response to the increasingly complex regulatory environment of continuing medical education. The risk of severe penalties and the high cost of negative media coverage have made it imperative that both CE providers and pharmaceutical and device manufacturers implement new policies and procedures to avoid conflicts of interest (COI). ACCME accreditation requirements now demand that content be validated and that COI be resolved, and cites the process of peer review as an effective mechanism that accredited providers may utilize to resolve COI (accme.org-FAQ).
CME Peer Review's turnkey service provides a solution for those CME providers who are challenged by these relatively recent ACCME accreditation requirements, allowing accredited providers to validate their content before making it available to health care providers.
CME Peer Review's easy-to-use, secure web portal makes the turnkey aspect of this service possible and assures confidentiality. Users simply upload the content and download the final report, improving efficiency and speeding turnaround.
To ensure that CME content is valid and in the public interest, CME Peer Review's ever-expanding network of physicians, pharmacists and nurses are specifically trained to evaluate the content according to 15 key criteria (including scientific integrity, balance and rigor) to verify compliance with regulatory and accreditation standards.
All of the reviewers must meet rigorous qualification requirements and are thoroughly vetted for relevant financial relationships with commercial interests, ensuring independent content validation-without conflict of interest.
According to CEO Jane Ruppenkamp, CME Peer Review is setting new standards in CE activity evaluation by integrating industry compliance experience and clinical practice.