SPONSORSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP
The terms sponsor and partner convey many implications of a relationship. These implications may indicate financial, developmental, distribution, and/or analytic support. For CME activities it is imperative that these terms have specific meaning to the CME audience, such that the audience can always depend on what the use of these terms indicates.
The ACCME originally used the term Joint Sponsorship to describe a relationship between an organization that was accredited and one that was not. More recently, the ACCME has revised this term to Joint Providership though it is not clear why the change was necessary. It is possible that the ACCME wrestled with the terms Sponsorship much the way CCME as a provider wrestles with it.
In this regard it is necessary that CCME establish a specific definition for sponsorship and partnership. It has been common for commercial organizations to consider their financial support either through educational grants or vendor displays as sponsorship of the CME activity. In addition is often seen that activity planners seeking financial support “invite” sponsorship, perhaps as an incentive to accept the “invitation”. Both of these offers create a relationship that is potentially favoritism toward the commercial organization. Whether favoritism or bias actually exists is irrelevant as long as the CME audience senses that the potential for bias exists.
Therefore, CCME will regard that a sponsor may not be a commercial organization. Since certified CME programs may not permit commercial organizations to influence content or presenters, it is contradictory to consider a commercial entity as a sponsor. Furthermore, since an accredit CME provider must show that it directly manages the finances of an activity including directly paying all costs of the activity. It is again contradictory to confer sponsorship status on a commercial entity that is not permitted to pay any of the CME activity bills. Distribution of promotional materials and post activity analytics also must remain the responsibility of the CME provider to avoid any impression that the activity is a product of the commercial organization.
Therefore, the guidelines that CCME uses to determine sponsorship and partnership are:
• The educational institution and the educational units that develop content are the only sponsor of a CME activity.
• The educational institution and the educational units that contribute to content are the only partners of a CME activity.
• The specific sponsor is the accredited provider that certifies the activity.
Consider these terms instead of sponsor(ship) or partner(ship):
Benefactor
Donor
Contributor
Assistance
Support