AANS Joint Sponsorship Guidelines
COMMERCIAL SUPPORT AND EXHIBIT/PROMOTION/ADVERTISING FAQs
What is the difference between commercial support income and exhibit income?
Commercial support is an educational grant to support the educational components of a CME activity.
Exhibit income is to cover the costs related to the CME activity. Revenue received from exhibits must be recorded separately from revenue received from commercial support in the activity budget.
How is commercial support defined?
Commercial support is defined as financial or in-kind contributions given by a commercial interest which is used to pay all or part of the costs of a CME activity. Commercial support underwrites the expenses for developing and presenting a CME activity. Commercial support must be used per the guidelines established by the ACCME and AMA.
What is a commercial interest?
A commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients.
The ACCME does not consider providers of clinical service directly to patients to be commercial interests.
A commercial interest is not eligible for ACCME accreditation nor can it joint sponsor with an accredited provider. Within the context of this definition and limitation, the ACCME considers the following types of organizations to be eligible for accreditation and free to control the content of CME:
- 501c Non-profit organizations (Note: ACCME screens 501c organizations for eligibility. Those that advocate for 'commercial interests' as a 501c organization are not eligible for accreditation in the ACCME system. They cannot serve in the role of joint sponsor, but they can be a commercial supporter.)
- Government organizations
- Non-health care related companies
- Liability insurance providers
- Health insurance providers
- Group medical practices
- For-profit hospitals
- For profit rehabilitation centers
- For-profit nursing homes
- Blood banks
- Diagnostic laboratories
ACCME reserves the right to modify this definition and this list of eligible organizations from time to time without notice.
What expenses can be paid for out of the commercial support?
Commercial support underwrites the expenses for developing and presenting a CME activity. Commercial support can be used to pay for the expenses of faculty as well others who are working on the activity. Modest meals, honoraria and other meeting related expenses can also be paid for by the commercial support.
Can the commercial support be spent directly by the commercial supporter for costs related to the CME activity?
No. The commercial support must go to the joint sponsor organization.
What is "in kind" support?
"In kind" refers to the loan or donation of equipment or supplies as well as services from a commercial interest. Letters of Agreement must be completed for in kind support.
Who must the sign letters of agreement for commercial support?
All commercial support agreements for AANS joint sponsored CME activities must be signed and dated by the commercial supporter and approved, countersigned and dated by your AANS staff representative prior to the start of your CME activity.
Can commercial funds designated for a specific CME activity be used later for other purposes?
Commercial funds contributed in support of a specific activity are to be used for that activity per the Letter of Agreement.
Can different levels of designation be offered to commercial interests for different amounts of commercial support, e.g., gold, silver, and bronze categories?
Yes. There can be levels of designation with different categories and amounts for commercial support. What you cannot do is offer commercial support levels combined with exhibit space or other marketing and/or advertising opportunities as part of these levels of commercial support.
Is it acceptable to say, "In exchange for $25,000 of commercial support, we will produce the CME activity and you will get an acknowledgment and a 20 x 20 sq ft booth in the exhibit hall along with the opportunity for your sales staff to promote your products at an evening reception?"
No, in this scenario the commercial interest is giving commercial supportand receiving promotional and sales opportunities. Payment and arrangements for advertising and exhibits must be separate, business transactions and cannot be conditions for commercial support. The company can pay for the grant and exhibit with one check, however, the actual Letter of Agreement for the educational grant must not include the exhibit funds.
Can a commercial supporter ask for an accounting of how their commercial support has been spent and / or ask that unused funds be returned?
Yes.
How do I acknowledge commercial support?
Acknowledgement of accepted commercial support for the activity must be made to the learners prior to the activity and a complete listing of all your commercial supporters must be included in your final program book. You do not need to acknowledge by dollar amount. All commercial support must be acknowledged to the audience prior to the activity and recognized as commercial support, not as "sponsors."
How do I handle commercial support that was received after the program and was completed with no acknowledgement prior to the start of the activity?
If funds are received after the completion of the program without acknowledgement to learners before the activity occurs, or prior knowledge by AANS, then the funds will need to be returned to the commercial supporter.
Do you need to obtain a CME Letter of Agreement from exhibitors?
No, exhibit income does not require a Letter of Agreement. A Letter of Agreement is required for the commercial support that the company is providing.
Can exhibits be in the same room as the CME activity?
No, exhibits must be kept physically separate from the CME meeting space and exhibit social events must not take place during the CME activity.
What can and what cannot have advertising?
ACCME requires the separation of education from all promotional activities, materials and messages.
Many organizations create a print or text based document (final program) that is handed out at the activity and provides information that is supplementary to the education content – like reproductions of slides, graphics or other handouts. These documents, in print or electronic, are an integral part of the education and as such cannot have any advertising, trade name or a product-group message associated with them. If the final program contains no CME content (handouts, copies of lectures, slides, Power Point copies, articles, and similar things), and as long as the piece is strictly a logistics book, you are permitted to have advertising in the book.
For appropriate management associated with commercial promotion and additional information regarding commercial support or exhibit revenue, please refer to the ACCME website at www.ACCME.org
In addition to the FAQs above, please also check the FAQs specifically for general information as well as the Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations to answer other questions. For additional information, please contact your AANS staff representative assigned to your activity or for general questions contact Vanessa Spinnato at vls@aans.org or by phone at 847.378.0550.