Industry-Supported Symposia Policies and Guidelines

Industry-supported Symposia (ISS) are unique forums for presenting educational information to Annual Meeting participants and are scheduled during breakfast and lunch time slots each day during the regular conference. The AAGP 2010 Program Committee reviews all submissions and AAGP provides Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) accredited CME credit for all accepted symposia. As the accredited sponsor of these programs, AAGP must ensure that the presentations are objective and balanced in their educational content, that the educational sessions contribute to professional development and life-long learning of the health care provider, and that there is no product promotion associated with the symposia. Commercial support for these programs must not conflict with the obligations of the AAGP to the profession and the integrity of geriatric psychiatry.

The following policies and guidelines are provided to ensure both the highest quality programming for meeting participants and compliance with the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support. Companies providing educational grants to support ISS agree that their company and its representatives will follow these policies. Failure to do so may jeopardize their eligibility to participate in future AAGP meetings.

All ISS must follow the guidelines for commercial support for the ACCME, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American Medical Association (AMA), or other agencies and appropriate professional organizations. Furthermore, AAGP has policies that limit unofficial activities at the AAGP Annual Meeting. These unofficial activities include social functions, advisory committee meetings, and promotional events that are not planned or sponsored by the AAGP.

The AAGP utilizes multiple sources for feedback on each ISS, including evaluation forms completed by participants, monitoring forms completed by individuals assigned by the AAGP CME Committee, and audiotapes that are reviewed by the AAGP CME Committee and AAGP staff. All ISS are evaluated following the AAGP meeting and a written report is provided to the AAGP CME Committee and the AAGP Board of Directors. A copy of this report is provided to the supporting company, their third-party company, as well as the Chair of the ISS. The purpose of this review is to ensure that the symposium is in compliance with the AAGP ISS Policies and Guidelines and in accordance with AAGP's CME Policies and Procedures on sanctions for non-compliance in commercially supported programs, which has been approved by the AAGP Board of Directors.

The goal of the AAGP CME program is to provide education and professional development to health care practitioners in order to improve patient care. As an accredited provider of continuing medical education programs, it is the responsibility of the AAGP to ensure that educational activities are designed primarily for this purpose. Commercial support can contribute significantly to the quality of the CME activities. Programs receiving commercial support are produced for scientific and educational purposes only and will not promote any product, either directly or indirectly.

Submission Process
ISS proposals are submitted directly to the AAGP Department of Education and Professional Development. The submission application requires a needs assessment, an overall abstract, individual presentation abstracts or descriptions, CME questions, and behavioral learning objectives for the proposed program. All submissions must describe the intended process for obtaining support with indication that a commercial supporter has been approached about funding.

Deadlines for Submission
Submissions will be accepted electronically until the slots designated for ISS are filled. However, the sooner the proposal is received the sooner it will be sent to the Review Committee for consideration. Program proposals received by June 2, 2009 will be given priority consideration and notified of their acceptance by July 30, 2009. Those submissions that receive the highest scores will be accepted as symposia for the 2010 AAGP Annual Meeting. The Review Committee considers such factors as relationship to Annual Meeting theme, relevance to identified attendee needs, timeliness of topic, diversity among presenters, uniqueness of topic, creativity in presentation of material, and presentation balance between research and practice applications. The Review Committee will make the final selections of all ISS to be presented at the AAGP Annual Meeting.

ISS
All industry-supported educational symposia are meal events (either breakfast or lunch). There are approximately 10 slots available for the 2010 AAGP Annual Meeting.

The attendance at the 2009 AAGP Annual Meeting in Honolulu, HI was approximately 1,200. Actual attendance at individual industry-supported symposia ranges from 150–400 individuals depending on the topic, reputation and quality of speakers, and innovation of educational presentation. There will be no competing educational sessions scheduled during the times reserved exclusively for industry-supported symposia.

After a symposium is accepted, the contact listed on the submission proposal will be notified. At that time, the contact will receive material detailing the processes for development of the program, logistics, and billing. Although meal preferences are noted, they cannot be guaranteed. The programs will be scheduled to ensure diverse and varied options for the meeting attendees. No more than three (and preferably only two) industry-supported symposia will be scheduled against one another.

Educational Grants
Commercial supporters will provide AAGP with educational grants, which allow AAGP to pay honoraria and travel stipends. The AAGP receives the grant and distributes the funds directly to the medical educational company. Commercial supporters or medical education companies may not pay faculty expenses directly. Each Chair and faculty member will receive a standard amount of remuneration for participating in an ISS, as determined by the AAGP. No participant is permitted to accept additional funds from any commercial supporter independent of these arrangements for participating in a given ISS. The scheduling of the ISS will be the responsibility of the AAGP Annual Meeting Program Committee and will be done so as not to conflict with other scientific program formats. A commercial supporter's agreement to support a symposium will not be contingent upon a specific date, time, or location in which a symposium is presented. The medical education company must act in accordance with the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support that state, “All support associated with a CME activity, whether in the form of an educational grant or not, must be given with the full knowledge and approval of the accredited sponsors.” The medical education company will provide AAGP with a detailed logistics budget that must include all expenses in support of the symposium. The AAGP reserves the right to determine if the expenses and in-kind support are reasonable and/or appropriate, and to make any necessary changes in the financial arrangements. The budget will be submitted with the signed Letter of Agreement as noted in the following section. After the budget has been submitted, any changes of more or less than 10% of the original budget should be submitted in writing to the AAGP as an addendum.

Letter of Agreement
After the proposed program is accepted by the AAGP Review Committee, a representative of the commercial supporter and the medical education company, if applicable, are required to sign a Letter of Agreement. This Letter of Agreement includes the agreement that commercial supporters are not able to direct or influence the content of the educational program. In addition, the medical education company is required to agree that AAGP is responsible for the control of content, format, and presenters, and that the presentations will not be guided in any way by the third party company. The medical education company must follow AAGP's guidelines for promotional materials including review and approval by the AAGP CME Committee as noted in this document. All promotional materials, including announcements, invitations, brochures, posters, advertisements, and handouts must clearly indicate AAGP as the sole sponsor of the program and that commercial support has been provided through an educational grant. Whether or not there is a medical education company, the commercial supporter is responsible for following AAGP's policies for promotional materials.

CME Credit
AAGP is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians and is approved by the American Medical Association (AMA) to award AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM. As the sponsor of the CME activity, AAGP maintains control over the selection of content and commercial support. ISS are open only to registrants of the AAGP Annual Meeting; participants can record credit for attendance at ISS sessions on the AAGP CME Credit Statement for the entire meeting from a form included in their registration materials. The AAGP does not maintain attendance records for each session and does not provide certificates for individual sessions.

Evaluations
The AAGP conducts an evaluation of each symposium in order to determine the attendee's perception, satisfaction, and learning needs met with the event related to information that can be used in practice, speaker quality, and bias of the presentations. AAGP staff oversees the distribution and collection of evaluation forms for each symposium. Staff from the commercial supporter or the third party company may not collect these evaluations forms and should immediately return any evaluation forms inadvertently received or found to the AAGP Speaker Ready Room. Failure to do so will be interpreted as not complying with the AAGP's Policies and Guidelines. The commercial supporter and/or the medical education company are prohibited from distributing their own evaluation forms at an ISS.

Prohibition Against Product Promotion
During the symposia, there will be no promotional activities for the commercially supported educational activities at the meeting site and no product advertisements permitted at the program site. The sponsor and faculty will ensure that data on any products discussed in the presentations are objectively selected, presented with favorable and unfavorable information, as well as balanced discussion or prevailing information on the product and or treatments. Generic names must be used throughout.

Financial Disclosures and Conflict of Interest
Every presenter involved in an ISS must sign and submit the Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form. Disclosure regarding relevant financial interests or other relationships in the 12 months preceding the Annual Meeting is required. Participating faculty must disclose any industry affiliations, sponsorships, honoraria, monetary support, and other potentially biasing factors to the audience (including relationships for spouses/partners). If a conflict is identified, the speaker will be required to fill out the AAGP Management of Conflict of Interest Form, which details how the faculty will resolve the conflict. Furthermore, disclosure information must be given at the beginning of each presenter's talk, both verbally and by a slide displayed for at least 10 seconds. A printed version of the complete disclosure information must appear in the handout materials.

The Chair of the session is responsible for ensuring that all faculty provide full disclosures at the session including disclosure of information being provided on any product not approved in the United States for the use under discussion (i.e., off label). Such products may only be discussed after this has been clearly stated to symposium participants.

ISS Materials
The AAGP Department of Education and Professional Development reviews all promotional and handout materials for ISS to ensure that AAGP maintains control over every aspect of the program. All materials related to an ISS must be approved by AAGP prior to printing and distribution. Promotional materials include: advertisements, announcements, invitations, brochures, signs, and onsite handout materials. Ads for the Advance Program and Final Program must also be reviewed by the AAGP Department of Education and Professional Development and should be submitted no later than the deadlines noted on the last page of this document.

Promotional materials must include the following information:

• Identification of AAGP as the sponsor of the program, including logo
• Name and logo of the commercial supporter
• AAGP accreditation and designation language
• Learning objectives
• Official name of the AAPG Annual Meeting and registration policy
• Agenda with scheduled times
• Beginning and end time for meals

Signs
Two signs not to exceed 26 x 33 inches will be permitted onsite and may include a box to hold brochures. These two signs may be displayed no more than 24 hours before the start of the ISS. Banners/posters in symposia rooms, logos on slides, etc. are NOT permitted. The AAGP CME Committee must review all promotional material and provide approval in writing. To complete the review, materials must be received by January 22, 2010.

Session Handouts
Session handouts must be provided for all attendees. Please confirm with AAGP after the advance registration deadline about suggested handout quantities to print. All handout material must include learning objectives, faculty disclosure information, all slides to be presented by the speakers during the symposium, and must be approved by the AAGP CME Committee. All materials must be received in electronic format (PowerPoint or Word) no later than January 29, 2010 to ensure sufficient time for review. Materials must be submitted in their entirety in order for the review to be completed.

The following sections must be included in each handout:

• Abstract for each presentation
• A complete copy of all sides used during the presentation
• A bibliography with complete references for all studies referred to in the presentation
• Any unpublished data referenced also must be included in the bibliography and disclosed as such, including the source of funding for the research data
• Disclosure statements

• Balance in the content of a program must be evident, reflecting all legitimate perspectives of an issue, a therapeutic approach, or use of a medical device.
• In circumstances where balance is not possible, the slide(s) should be eliminated or the rationale for its inclusion explained to the audience.
• Peer-reviewed references are required.
• Conclusions can only be drawn when true comparisons have been made.
• Data must be balanced—efficacy data as well as side effects must be included.
• All FDA-approved drugs for an indication must be included in the discussion.
• Graphical presentations must be comparable.
• Unpublished data must be marked as such. Data cited from studies sponsored by the company providing the unrestricted educational grant for the symposium must be referenced and verbally recognized as such during the presentation, as well as included in the PowerPoint slide presentation. Where legitimate differing views exist, they must be included in the program, recognizing that bias can be promoted by omission or exclusion of information just as it can by inclusion.
• Only generic drug names should be used. Any information regarding unapproved uses of approved products or investigations of uses of unapproved products must be clearly identified as such.
• Handout material should be limited to information pertaining to the topic and learning objectives, and may not include coupons or order forms for books, promotions, or other speaking engagements.

Penalties will be assessed as follows:

Received between 1/20/10 and 2/07/10 - $1,000
Received between 2/08/10 and 2/14/10 - $2,000
Received between 2/15/10 and 2/21/10 - $3,500
Received after 2/21/2010 - $5,000

Once submitted, handouts and slides may not be altered in any way. Speakers may petition AAGP to review only minor changes to slides/handouts (e.g., due to scientific updates). Any major changes noted after the deadline will be considered in violation of this policy and may result in the revocation of CME credit.

At the AAGP Annual Meeting, presenters will upload only those slides that were pre-approved by the CME Committee into AAGP's A/V system to prevent any changes in slides at a later date. If educational grants are approved late, e.g., 31-60 days before the meeting, all slides must be received 14 days before the meeting. If a grant is approved with less than 30 days before the meeting, all slides must be received no later than one week before the meeting. Speakers will not be allowed to present without approval of their slides/handouts from the CME Committee. If a speaker does not abide by these slide/handout policies, AAGP will not allow that speaker to present at the Annual Meeting for one year.

Registration
There will be no registration for individual symposia, either beforehand or on-site, as AAGP manages all registrations. Please do not include registration forms in advertising pieces.

Role of the ISS Chair
The Chair is responsible for ensuring that the abstract submission is complete with all of the elements required. The Chair should review the learning objectives stated for each session to ensure that all presentations are balanced, offer a variety of perspectives, and do not focus on one specific product.

Role of Faculty (including Chairs)
Upon acceptance, all Chairs and faculty receive the following forms:

• Speaker Acceptance and Agreement
• Speaker Information
• Conflict of Interest Disclosure
• Permission to Record

Faculty are responsible for making their own hotel and travel arrangements. Hotel registration information will be included in the Advance Program that will be available in early fall.

It is the responsibility of the Chair and faculty to ensure that all appropriate and necessary copyright permissions have been granted for the handouts. AAGP will not reimburse fees associated with copyright permissions.

Speaker Review
AAGP's Speaker Ready Room is available for use at no charge. During the day, this room is open to all conference speakers. There are two computers provided to all speakers for slide review. If a private room is preferred for speaker review sessions, please make arrangements directly with AAGP. All charges, however, will be the responsibility of the medical education company and paid directly to the hotel/convention center.

The slides must be identical to those that were pre-approved by AAGP for presentation and to those that appear in the handout book. The handout book should include all slides presented by the speaker, and AAGP will load all presentations to ensure that they are the pre-approved slides and that no changes are made onsite. Slides will be loaded regardless of whether or not a speaker gives permission to reproduce their slides.

Taping Policy
For CME purposes, an AAGP-approved vendor audiotapes all symposia. AAGP will provide one audiotape copy for each session to the supporting company and third party medical education company. Additional audio or videotaping will not be permitted unless pre-arranged with AAGP.

CME Enforcement Process
The AAGP monitors implementation of these program requirements through several onsite observation procedures as well as the program evaluations. After the meeting, the AAGP CME Committee reviews the evaluation survey data, reports from the monitors, AAGP staff, and AAGP CME Committee members and members of the AAGP Board of Directors attending the program. When necessary, the audiotapes of the program are reviewed as well. All parties that sign into agreement with the AAGP to participate in a commercially supported CME activity are subject to sanctions by the CME Committee as outlined in the AAGP Policy for Commercial Supporters, and third party companies are responsible for complying with the AAGP agreements. If a third party violates the agreements, sanctions will be applied.

Fees and Related Information
The following fees for symposia at the 2010 AAGP Annual Meeting will apply:

Breakfast Symposium - $98,000
Breakfast Symposium with web cast - $123,000

Lunch Symposium - $118,000
Lunch Symposium with web cast - $143,000

Fees for symposia include accreditation by AAGP (1.5 CME credits), evaluation forms and outcomes analysis, faculty honoraria, faculty travel, food and beverage, room set, standard audiovisual set, mailing labels, promotion through the AAGP Advance Program, AAGP Final Program, and the AAGP website, AAGP speaker review facilities, and audio taping of the session. In addition, the commercial supporter will receive three meeting registrations.

Fees for the symposia with web cast on the expanding on-line educational portion on the AAGP website include the services above in addition to the posting of a web cast of the program after the AAGP Annual Meeting. Web casts will be posted for one year and AAGP will provide CME credits to participants who successfully pass and complete the posttest. AAGP will promote these web casts through e-mails and postcards to the AAGP membership and purchasers of AAGP educational products.

With the commercial support provided through an educational grant, AAGP will provide the following services:

Commercial Support
AAGP provides the letter of agreement and invoices the supporting company directly.

CME
All symposia are scheduled for 2 hours with the first 30 minutes for meal service and the remaining 90 minutes for the educational program. 1.5 CME credits will be provided to participants by AAGP. Symposia must not start before the meal function is completed.

Evaluation Forms
AAGP will provide all session evaluation forms, and only AAGP evaluation forms will be permitted. The medical education company may pick up the session evaluations to insert into their handout books onsite at the AAGP Speaker Ready Room. However, all completed evaluations must be given to the AAGP room monitor assigned to each symposium. AAGP will provide each medical education and supporting company with a tabulation and analysis of those evaluations approximately 6-8 weeks after the meeting.

Faculty Honoraria
Honoraria checks will be mailed directly from AAGP 4-6 weeks after the meeting. The chair will receive $2,000 and faculty will receive $1,500. No speaker may receive more than one honorarium, regardless of how many sessions they present. AAGP Board Members, Committee Chairs, and Annual Meeting Program Committee Members are not eligible to receive honoraria for participating in industry-supported symposia; however, they may receive travel stipends to cover the cost of their participation in the program.

Faculty Travel
A travel stipend of $1,500 domestic or $1,800 international will be provided for ISS speakers. This check will be mailed only after all faculty forms have been signed and returned to AAGP and grant support has been received from the supporting company. Faculty will be responsible for making all of their own travel and hotel arrangements/reservations. No speaker shall receive more than one travel stipend, regardless of how many sessions they present.

Faculty members will be responsible for returning the full amount of the travel stipend to AAGP if they are not able to attend the Annual Meeting for any reason.

Food/Beverage
Due to the number of meal events at this meeting, AAGP selects food and beverage for all symposia and no changes may be made. The same meal will be served at concurrent sessions.

Room Set
The room will be set as follows:

• Head table for appropriate number of speakers (unless otherwise specified)
• Rounds of 10

AAGP provides one badge checker/room monitor at each symposium.

Audiovisual
AAGP contracts with CMI Communications to provide audiovisual services. For ISS, AAGP will provide and pay for the following:

Equipment
(1) screen (to fit room)
(1) laser pointer
(1) LED projector
(1) podium microphone
(1) wired lavaliere
(2) floor microphones
Tabletop microphones (1 for every 2 speakers)

Labor
(1) technician for 4 hours (including one-hour for pre-symposium rehearsal)

(Additional equipment may be ordered by the medical education company through CMI. Any additional cost is the responsibility of the medical education company).

Mailing Labels
AAGP will send one set of pressure-sensitive mailing labels from the meeting pre-registration list that will be sent one week after the advance registration deadline on January 29, 2010. In 2009, there were approximately 650 pre-registrants.

Promotion
All symposia will be listed in the Advance Program, Final Program, and on the AAGP website. In addition, each symposium will receive a full-page, 4-color ad placement in both the Advance and Final programs.

Speaker Review
AAGP's Speaker Ready Room is available for use at no charge

Registrations
Three meeting registrations will be provided to employees of the supporting company.

Industry-supported symposia may be coordinated by a third-party medical education company, and the company will work directly with the faculty and the AAGP to coordinate the program. The responsibilities of the medical education company are as follows:

Handouts
Handouts that include learning objectives, faculty disclosure information, and all slides being presented must be provided for all attendees, and must be approved by the AAGP CME Committee.

Designation
All educational and promotional material must contain the following statements:

Provided by the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Supported by an educational grant from <>.

The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Promotion
Promotional materials may be in the form of advertisements, direct mailings to potential conference attendees, or signage at the meeting site. Two signs not to exceed 26 x 33 inches will be permitted onsite and may include a box to hold brochures. The signs may be displayed no more than 24 hours before the start of the ISS. Banners/posters in symposia rooms, logos on slides, etc. are NOT permitted.

Advertisements Included in the cost of the symposium are full-page, 4-color ad placements in both the Advance and Final programs. A PDF proof for the Advance Program is due to Karen Kanefield by August 14, 2009, and final art is due by August 21, 2009. A PDF proof for the Final Program is due by January 8, 2010 and final art is due by January 15, 2010.

Faculty
AAGP must be copied on all correspondence to faculty. In addition, planning meetings with faculty other than conference calls must be approved in writing by AAGP.

Questions?
Contact Karen Kanefield, AAGP's Director of Education and Professional Development at (301)-654-7850, ext. 108 or kkanefield@aagponline.org.

June 2, 2009
Advance deadline for priority review, dates, and time slots

Early July 2009
Review of submissions by 2010 AAGP Annual Meeting Program Committee

July 30, 2009
Notification of ISS approval (Note: If additional slots remain, ISS proposals will be accepted on a rolling admission basis and reviewed by the 2010 Annual Meeting Program Committee as they are received.)

August 14, 2009
PDF of ISS ad proofs due AAGP for approval

August 21, 2009
Final art of ISS ad due to AAGP

November 2009
Speaker forms due to AAGP

January 8, 2010
PDF of ISS ad proof due to AAGP for approval

January 15, 2010
Final Art of ISS ad due to AAGP

January 22, 2010
ISS promotional materials due to AAGP for approval

February 1, 2010
Mailing labels of advance registrants sent to medical educational companies

January 29, 2010
Session handouts due to AAGP for approval (Note: Penalties will be assessed after this date)

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