The Economics of CME: Key Issues in Grants Funding and Pharma-Provider Collaboration

STUDY OVERVIEW

Teaching hospitals and medical associations responsible for Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs for physicians will face pressing challenges in the coming years, particularly in terms of funding.

These CME providers are almost entirely dependent on the financial sponsorship of the pharmaceutical industry. As pharmaceutical companies adopt stricter protocols for allocating grants, hospitals and associations must marshal their very limited resources to interpret each company's funding requirements, write compelling grants proposals, and deliver useful educational content to doctors.

This research examines the current landscape of CME funding both from the perspective of CME providers and the pharmaceutical industry. Our study, which draws on a cross-section of benchmarking data and a series of executive interviews from both sides, explores how teaching hospitals and medical associations staff their CME teams, plan CME programming, pursue grants, and work collaboratively with leading pharmaceutical companies.

KEY TOPICS

• Executive Summary & Key Findings
• Funding Trends
• Collaboration with Pharma
• Obtaining Grants
• Leveraging Budgetary Resources
• Strategic Program Planning
• Staffing

• Number of Programs Sponsored Annually
• Annual Funding Required/Received
• Access to Funding
• Grants Funding Trends and Obstacles
• Pharma CME Investment Levels, North America and Europe
• CME Group Staffing and Training Committments
• CME Staff Tenure and Hiring Requirements

Pharmaceutcial Companies Provide Nearly All CME Funding, the Loss of Which Would Be Crippling to CME Recipient Organizations: Of the eight medical association and teaching hospital participants interviewed, six reported that their organizations receive between 85% and 98% of their annual funding from pharmaceutical companies.

Guidelines and Regulations Present the Largest Obstacles to CME Grants Funding Going Forward: Most groups fear that guidelines from organizations like the ACCME will negatively affect CME grants funding in the future. Sixty-three percent of the benchmark class predicted that, relative to now, ACCME would have the most impact on grants funding in the next year.

METHODOLOGY

This benchmarking study, based on benchmark survey data and executive interviews of 30 participants from 26 leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical education companies, was conducted to identify the salient trends and likely directions of CME in the North American and European marketplaces. The study also incorporates third-party input from seven CME vendors and eight medical associations and teaching hospitals.

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