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163 National Task Force content authored by Dennis K. Wentz and Alejandro Aparicio; NAAMECC content authored by Karen M. Overstreet chapter 14 Contemporary Organizations That Influence Continuing Medical Education in the United States: The National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration and the North American Association of Medical Education and Communication Companies As continuing medical education (CME) matured in the 1990s, new entities came into play that a√ected the field of CME. This chapter describes two of them. The National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration (National Task Force) was created in 1990. The National Task Force attempted to improve communication between CME providers and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries as the amount of commercial support and funding for CME was dramatically increasing. Concerns about undue influence on the content and provision of CME due to such commercial support became common , and the National Task Force attempted to bring together all involved parties including the government for informal but intense discussions . The North American Association of Medical Education and Communication Companies, the second entity to be discussed in this chapter, formed to advocate nationally for medical education and communications companies, both forpro fit and not-for-profit, who had been approved as accredited providers of CME by the Accreditation Council for CME (ACCME) and experienced rapid growth beginning in the 1990s. The National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration The mission of the National Task Force is ‘‘to provide a leadership forum to impact national policy related to the provision, support, accreditation, and regulation of continuing medical education (CME).’’∞ The National Task Force remains unique and unlike any other forum in CME by virtue of its composition, its structure, and its mission. In our view, the major contribution of the National Task Force has been education and the provision of educational activities and resources. These manydimensional educational e√orts continue to be the dominant theme. Education occurs between and among members of the National Task Force at the three yearly meetings (o√-the-record, no holds barred, no minutes, the more debate the better), in frank but engaged discussion. Educational e√orts are directed at many groups: to industry regarding CME accreditation and credit, to accrediting organizations about industry policies and constraints, to education of physicians and medical organizations about CME and guidelines 164 newer institutions and organizations from the profession on gifts to physicians from industry, and finally, beginning in 2008, to education of the public, the media, the regulators, and the government. A major new e√ort has just begun, the issuing of fact sheets developed by the National Task Force to clarify many misperceptions about the organization and delivery of CME. From its inception, the stated goals of the National Task Force included: ≤ To bring together individuals from a variety of CME perspectives ≤ To propose mutually derived ethical solutions to issues in CME ≤ To disseminate news and information regarding CME ≤ To safeguard continuing education provider/industry collaboration and support for CME ≤ To review and recommend guidelines and regulations pertaining to the interface between CME providers and industry ≤ To provide educational activities that support our mission and goals How and Why the National Task Force Began Prior to the National Task Force’s initial meeting in 1990, Martin D. Shickman, MD, assistant dean at the University of California–Los Angeles School of Medicine, urged the Society of Medical College Directors of CME (SMCDCME, now the Society for Academic CME [SACME]) to get involved in the issues of industry influence on CME. An ad hoc task force was appointed by SMCDCME leadership; its members met for the first time with representatives of seven pharmaceutical companies in New Orleans in 1986 to discuss issues of mutual concern, including the prevalent industry marketing culture, extremes in company gifts to physicians, and perhaps inappropriate company influence and direction over physician participation in CME. In 1987, the task force became an o≈cial committee of the SMCDCME chaired by Shickman, but only three companies originally present in New Orleans, represented by three individuals, continued to come to the meetings: Robert Orsetti of Ciba Geigy, David Lichtenauer of the Upjohn Company , and Lee Yerkes of Marion Merrell Dow. The discussions were frank, broad reaching, and mutually informative, and the need to create a national forum and debate was clear. Thus, in 1989 Shickman’s committee recommended to SMCDCME leadership that a national conference be convened. By this time, committee member and 1987 SMCDCME president...

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