The School of Sleep Medicine, Inc.

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Program Policy for Commercial Support of Continuing Medical Education

Any company providing commercial support to SSM Inc.™, understands and agrees that the CME activity shall be organized and conducted in accordance with the Standards for Commercial Support of Continuing Medical Education of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, and agrees to abide by such Standards. The Standards include the following:

SSM Inc.™ ensures that the content and production of the CME activities were made free of the control of commercial interest, including:
- Identification of CME needs;
- Determination of educational objectives;
- Selection of all persons and organizations that will be in a position to control the content of the CME;
- Selection of educational methods;
- Evaluation of the activities.
A commercial interest cannot take the role of non-accredited partner in a joint sponsorship relationship with SSM, Inc. ™
SSM Inc.™ assures the presentation of balanced, objective information.
If exhibits are present they will not interfere with the educational activity.
All commercial support funds will be paid to SSM Inc.™ and be disbursed by SSM Inc.™
Commercial support will be acknowledged to participants.
SSM Inc.™ and the CME activity faculty will disclose any significant relationships with the supporting Company(s) and with companies whose products will be discussed.
Social activities will be modest and will not take precedence over educational activities.

The Commercial Support Standards require that our presentation be free of commercial bias and that any information regarding commercial products/services be based on scientific methods generally accepted by the medical community. When discussing therapeutic options, it is our preference that only generic names are used. If it is necessary to use a trade name, then those of several companies must be used. All our faculty members will observe and comply with these requirements and all of the provisions of the Commercial Support Standards.

Faculty Disclosure Statement

The School of Sleep Medicine, Inc.™ (SSM) follows the guidelines of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all it's individually sponsored or jointly sponsored educational activities. All speaker(s)/faculty participating in SSM activities are expected to disclose to the activity audience any significant financial interest or other relationship (1) with the manufacturer(s) of any commercial product(s) and/or provider(s) of commercial services discussed in an educational presentation and (2) with any commercial supporters of the activity. (Significant financial interest or other relationship can include such things as grants or research support, employee, consultant, major stock holder, member of speakers bureau. The ACCME defines “`relevant` financial relationships” as financial relationships in any amount occurring within the past 12 months that create a conflict of interest.) The intent of this disclosure is not to prevent a speaker with a significant financial or other relationship from making a presentation, but rather to provide listeners with information for which they can make their own judgments. It remains for the audience to determine whether the speaker’s interests or relationships may influence the presentation with regard to exposition or conclusion.

It is the responsibility of the School of Sleep Medicine, Inc.™, to resolve any conflict to ensure that the content of the activity is aligned with the interests of the public by modifying either of the two factors that create the conflict: 1) alter the relationship with the commercial interest so that the individual no longer has a financial relationship; or 2) alter the individual’s control over CME content so that the individual no longer controls content relevant to the commercial interest.

An individual who refuses to disclose relevant financial relationships will be disqualified from being a planning committee member, a teacher, or an author of CME, and cannot have control of, or responsibility for, the development, management, presentation or evaluation of the CME activity.