Below is a sample letter to be used for faculty and speakers for your CE accredited meetings. This helps to explain the SII Disclosure process.
For a link to the Word document, please download here: SII Sample Faculty Letter
Dear <INSERT>:
We are looking forward to having the opportunity to include you as a <proposed role for person—e.g., planner, faculty, reviewer, etc.> in the accredited continuing education <Insert activity title or working title and date/location information, if appropriate>. As a part of your role in this activity you will be asked to complete a financial disclosure statement and may be asked to submit your final presentation for review.
Why do we collect this information?
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). We appreciate your help in partnering with us to follow accreditation guidelines and help us create high-quality education that is independent of industry influence. To participate as a person who will be able to control the educational content of this accredited CE activity, we ask that you disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies that you have had over the past 24 months. We ask you to disclose regardless of whether you view the financial relationships as relevant to the education.
Since healthcare professionals serve as the trusted authorities when advising patients, they must protect their learning environment from industry influence to ensure they remain true to their ethical commitments.
What are the next steps in this process?
Your disclosure information must be submitted no later than 10 business days in advance of the activity or session start date. After we receive your disclosure information, we will review it to determine whether your financial relationships are relevant to the education. If there are financial relationships the accreditation standards require that relevant financial relationships are mitigated before you assume your role in this activity. In some cases, you may be asked to submit your presentation for review, and this must be submitted no later than 5 business days prior to the activity or session start date. If we request updates to your presentation to mitigate any conflicts, your updated presentation must be submitted no later than 3 business days prior to the activity or session start date.
For more information on the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, please visit accme.org/standards.
If you have questions about these expectations, please contact us at <contact information>.
Sincerely:
<CME Associate/Activity Director>