A publishing company set its sights on initial ACCME accreditation, only to hit an unexpected roadblock during its eligibility review.
The company assumed eligibility based on its publishing role and requested an ACCME corporate structure review for confirmation. To its surprise, the ACCME deemed it ineligible. The reason? The eligibility status of its parent company.
The parent organization regularly produced non-accredited education in collaboration with ineligible pharmaceutical partners. Since ACCME evaluates both the applicant and its parent company, when applicable, the publishing subsidiary was ruled ineligible. While firewalls can separate eligible organizations from ineligible sister companies, no firewall can override a parent company’s status of being ineligible.
Under the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited CE, an organization cannot be accredited if it, or its parent company, meets the definition of an ineligible entity. Eligibility is not confined to the applicant’s activities; it also considers the structure and influence of parent and sister entities. This eligibility standard aims to ensure that conflicts of interest cannot filter down through corporate hierarchies, even if the subsidiary attempts to establish a firewall between itself and parent organization.
