Balancing Act

Many companies have found creative solutions to staying in the CME game while adhering to the ethical spirit of the guidelines. Sales and marketing departments traditionally decided on grant allocation. Sales representatives and medical science liaisons (MSLs) have been stripped of many tools they u...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pharmaceutical Executive 2006-09, p.14
Main Authors: Bender, Andy, Dayani, Nooshine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accreditation
Auditing procedures
Continuing education
Education
Educational objectives
Feedback
Grants
Job descriptions
Kickbacks
Marketing
Pharmaceutical industry
Regulation
Salespeople
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Summary:Many companies have found creative solutions to staying in the CME game while adhering to the ethical spirit of the guidelines. Sales and marketing departments traditionally decided on grant allocation. Sales representatives and medical science liaisons (MSLs) have been stripped of many tools they used to influence physicians' prescribing behavior. One of the last to go was the ability to give grants. In order to facilitate the change process, companies must educate MSLs and reps to stay out of the grant-submission process. Other pharmaceutical companies take even greater risks and choose to pre-qualify CME vendors, despite that this may increase the risk of influence. Occasionally, pharmaceutical companies may have educational needs that are not addressed by the grant requests submitted by providers. Grant allocation by the pharmaceutical companies serves business as well as patient needs. At the end of the day, if grant making is conducted by ethical standards, both the grant-making organization as well as the patient population will benefit.
ISSN:0279-6570
2150-735X