If an emergency arises and you are unable to perform your duties as a speaker, please contact OCHCH within 24 hours at our office: (614) 885-0434. In an emergency, to the extent possible, the speaker shall help arrange for a suitable substitute speaker to present on their behalf.

• I understand that if CEs/CEUs/CHs are to be awarded to attendees I may be asked to provide a bibliography of sources and other supporting information before the event is held.

• Recommendations for patient care in accredited continuing education must be based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning, while giving a fair and balanced view of diagnostic and therapeutic options.

• All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in accredited education in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
Although accredited continuing education is an appropriate place to discuss, debate, and explore new and evolving topics, these areas need to be clearly identified as such within the program and individual presentations. It is the responsibility of accredited providers to facilitate engagement with these topics without advocating for, or promoting, practices that are not, or not yet adequately based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning.

• Content cannot be included in accredited education if it advocates for unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy, or if the education promotes recommendations, treatment, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients.

• These expectations are drawn from Standard 1 of the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. For more information, see accme.org/standards. If we can help you to understand and/or apply these strategies to your education, please contact us.

I agree to prepare a fair & balanced presentation that is objective & unbiased, scientifically rigorous, and evidence-based where possible. If presenting research funded by a commercial company, the information presented will be based on generally accepted scientific principles and methods and will not promote the commercial interest of the funding company. During my presentation, I will not engage in any type of promotional marketing or selling of any product or service without prior approval from OCHCH.

• OCHCH is accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. We appreciate your help in partnering with us to follow accreditation guidelines and help us create high-quality education that is independent of commercial interest/ineligible organization influence. To participate as a person who will be able to control the educational content of this activity, we ask that you disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies that you have had over the past 24 months.

• Ineligible companies are defined as those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. There is no minimum financial threshold; you must disclose all financial relationships, regardless of the amount, with ineligible companies. We ask you to disclose regardless of whether you view the financial relationships as relevant to the education. For more information on the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, please visit accme.org/standards.

• Examples of financial relationships include employee, researcher, consultant, advisor, speaker, independent contractor (including contracted research), royalties or patent beneficiary, executive role, and ownership interest. Individual stocks and stock options MUST be disclosed; diversified mutual funds do not need to be disclosed. Research funding from ineligible companies MUST be disclosed by the principal or named investigator even if that individual’s institution receives the research grant and manages the funds.

• Why do we collect this information? Since healthcare professionals serve as the trusted authorities when advising patients, they must protect their learning environment from industry influence to ensure they remain true to their ethical commitments. Many healthcare professionals have financial relationships with ineligible companies. By identifying and mitigating relevant financial relationships, we work together to create a protected space to learn, teach, and engage in scientific discourse, free from influence from organizations that may have an incentive to insert commercial bias into education.

• What are the next steps in this process? After we receive your disclosure information, we will review it to determine whether your financial relationships are relevant to the education. Please note: the identification of relevant financial relationships does not necessarily mean that you are unable to participate in the planning and implementation of this educational activity. Rather, the accreditation standards require that relevant financial relationships are mitigated before you assume your role in this activity.

• If you have questions about these expectations, please contact us at ochch@ochc.org or (614) 885-0434

• In the past 24 months, I have not had any financial relationships with any ineligible companies.