Please read carefully.

As an accredited provider of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) requires written, signed disclosure of the absence or existence of financial relationships with ACCME-defined ineligible companies from every individual in a position to control the content of a CME activity.

Individuals must disclose all financial relationships they have had over the past 24 months with any ineligible company. There is no minimum financial threshold; all financial relationships with ineligible companies must be disclosed, regardless of the amount or whether the financial relationships are viewed as relevant to the education.

The ACCME defines “ineligible company” as any company whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. The ACCME does not consider companies whose mission and function are: (1) providing clinical services directly to patients; or (2) the education of healthcare professionals; or (3) serving as fiduciary to patients, the public, or population health to be ineligible companies.

SCCT will review all disclosures to determine if there are any conflicts of interest. Circumstances create a conflict of interest when an individual has an opportunity to affect CME content about the products or services of an ineligible company with which he/she has a financial relationship. If present, SCCT will take steps to mitigate conflicts of interest according to the SCCT Conflict of Interest Policy and Procedures.

Individuals who refuse to disclose their financial relationships with ineligible companies, or who refuse to attest to the statements included on the SCCT Disclosure Form, will be prohibited from participating in any aspect of the planning or implementation of associated CME activities.

Every individual with potential influence or control of content must complete the SCCT Disclosure Form prior to their participation in any role related to a CME activity, and as a condition of invitation and acceptance to participate.

In summary, we must ensure that all CME content adheres to the following:

Educational materials that are part of accredited education (such as slides, abstracts, handouts, evaluation mechanisms, or disclosure information) must not contain any marketing produced by or for an ineligible company, including corporate or product logos, trade names, or product group messages.

All recommendations for patient care in accredited continuing education must be based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning, while giving a fair and balanced view of diagnostic and therapeutic options.  All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in accredited education in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation. 

Evolving topics are presented without advocating for, or promoting, practices that are not, or not yet, adequately based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning. Sessions that cover these topics must be clearly identified in the program or agenda.

CME cannot include unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy, or education that promotes recommendations, treatment, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients.  Faculty must not actively promote or sell products or services that serve their professional or financial interests during accredited education. 

Only relevant relationships are disclosed to learners prior to the activity for CME purposes. If you wish to disclose other relationships, you may do so on a separate slide or clearly identify by bolding the font for those that are related to the topic.

1. Program application and disclosure forms of Activity Directors and other planners will be reviewed by one or more non-conflicted SCCT CME Committee members. If any relationships are found to be relevant to the content of the activity, one or more of the following mechanisms will be used to mitigate conflicts of interest (COIs):

• Recusal from controlling aspects of planning and content with which they have a conflict of interest.
• Peer-review of planning decisions by person(s) that do not have conflicts of interest related to the content.
• Divestiture of the financial relationship(s).
• Other mechanisms that meet ACCME accreditation expectations.

2. Disclosure forms of authors/faculty will be reviewed prior to presentation by non-conflicted planners, SCCT CME Committee member(s), and/or SCCT staff. If relationships are found to be relevant to the content of the activity, one or more of the following mechanisms will be used to mitigate conflicts of interest (COIs):

• Peer-review of content by person(s) that do not have conflicts of interest related to the content, to ensure that clinical recommendations are evidence-based and free of commercial bias.
• Changes to the content, with final review and approval required.
• Changes to the faculty member’s requested topic or role in the presentation.
• Recusal from presentation of aspects of content with which the faculty member has a conflict of interest.
• Divestiture of the financial relationship(s).
• Other mechanisms that meet ACCME accreditation expectations.

3. Speakers will be required to have a disclosure slide (1st or 2nd slide) listing all of their relationships with ineligible companies in the past 24 months, in addition to any discussion of off-label use. SCCT will provide individuals with the required disclosure slide format. The relationships listed on the disclosure slide should match the information disclosed on the SCCT disclosure form.

4. Disclosures of all individuals participating in the educational activity will also be made known to the audience prior to the activity, and will include the statement that all relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.