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Industry Support & Quality Initiatives

Kenneth Saag, MD, MSc, Gary Bryant, MD, Brian Feldman, MD, MSc, David Felson, MD, Liana Fraenkel, MD, MPH, Salahuddin Kazi, MBBS, and Kristen McNiff, MPH  |  Issue: July 2010  |  

Determining and managing levels of individual conflict and perceived conflict of interest are the subjects of ongoing discussion by the ACR, the medical profession, and society as a whole. The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) took a significant step into this debate with the publication of the CMSS Code for Interactions with Companies in April.3 The code addresses guideline development in a comprehensive section. The code, along with other recent publications on this topic, will be among the sources that the ACR will review and analyze as we seek up-to-date policies that minimize the potential for and perception of conflict and allow members to meaningfully and fully contribute to their professional society.4

There is a great need for our patients, colleagues in medicine, and policy makers to perceive ACR-developed and ACR-endorsed products as free from industry influence. Strong ACR policies regarding industry support are a step in the right direction for rheumatology.

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Dr. Saag is chair of the QOC, Dr. Bryant is co-chair of the QOC Quality Measures Subcommittee, Dr. Feldman is on the QOC Criteria Subcommittee, Dr. Felson is on the QOC Criteria Subcommittee, Dr. Fraenkel is chair of the QOC Guidelines Subcommittee, Dr. Kazi is co-chair of the QOC Quality Measures Subcommittee, and Kristen McNiff is vice president of the ACR Registry, Quality, and Healthcare Informatics Department.

References

  1. Gabriel S. Physician–industry relationships. The Rheumatologist. 2009;7:5,7.
  2. Licurse A, Barber E, Joffe S, Gross C. The impact of disclosing financial ties in research and clinical care: A systematic review. Arch Intern Med. 2010;170:675-682.
  3. Council of Medical Specialty Societies. Code for Interactions with Companies. April 2010. Available at: www.cmss.org/uploadedFiles/Site/CMSS_Policies/CMSS%20Code%20for%20Interactions%20with%20Companies%204-19-10.pdf. Accessed June 11, 2010.
  4. Guyatt G, Akl EA, Hirsh J, et al. The vexing problem of guidelines and conflict of interest: A potential solution. Ann Intern Med. 2010;152:738-741.

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