Continuing Medical Education Provider
ACCME Accreditation
The IAS–USA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Content Development and Objectivity Policies for CME Activities
The IAS–USA was founded on the commitment to produce CME activities and services of the highest quality in the management of HIV or other viral infections and that are absolutely free of commercial bias. All of the IAS–USA programs – such as conferences, Web-based CME publications, and practice guidelines – are offered as part of a nationwide effort to inform health care practitioners about the evolving challenges of caring for patients with viral infections.
To further ensure complete independence of its program and content from ineligible companies, the IAS–USA has adopted a policy that prohibits health care providers who participate in commercial marketing or promotional activities from being involved in IAS–USA programs and activities. The ACCME defines ineligible companies as “those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.” The ACCME recently changed the term from commercial interests to ineligible companies. For more information about the separation of promotional and marketing activities from IAS–USA CME activities, refer to the policy adopted in January 2009.
The excellence of the IAS–USA programs is driven by a broad faculty of clinicians and researchers who are experts in viral infections and by the organization’s volunteer board of directors. The board and faculty determine issues that are most relevant to the clinical management of patients and guide the development of program content. New faculty members are screened by the IAS–USA in order to promote a diversity of clinical views.
The IAS–USA strives to maintain an objective, balanced, and scientifically rigorous program that is free from commercial bias. Funding for some organization programs may originate from educational grants from ineligible companies or from Federal agencies. For CME activities that are designated to receive support from ineligible companies, the IAS–USA adheres to the following policies that prevent the involvement of outside entities in the planning and provision of program content:
- Programs that receive support from ineligible companies do not receive funding from a single source; funds must be received from several companies with competing products, and is pooled to be used at IAS–USA discretion.
- The IAS–USA maintains a firewall between ineligible company funding sources and CME program content by internally managing every aspect of the planning, development, and delivery of its CME activities.
- For all CME activities, the IAS–USA requires full disclosure of relationships—financial and otherwise—that its faculty or other persons in control of content have with ineligible companies and other outside entities.
- When a real or potential conflict of interest is determined to exist, the IAS–USA resolves the conflict before permitting a faculty member to participate in any CME program development or implementation.
- Finally, the IAS–USA undertakes an independent peer review of the content and recommendations of all of its CME activities.