AHVAP Statement of Integrity and Independence in Continuing Education

The Association of Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals (AHVAP) exists to advance evidence-based decision making in healthcare. The credibility of that mission rests entirely on the credibility of our education. Value analysis professionals are the clinicians and supply chain leaders responsible for evaluating the products, technologies, and services that reach patients. They cannot make objective decisions if the education that shapes their judgment has been shaped by commercial interests.

For that reason, AHVAP continuing education (CE) is designed to meet and exceed the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education (ACCME, 2020), the consensus framework adopted across the health professions. Every AHVAP CE activity, whether delivered at our Annual Conference, through webinars, or in self-paced formats, is governed by the following commitments.

1. Content is valid, balanced, and evidence-based

All recommendations presented in AHVAP CE are grounded in current science, published evidence, and sound clinical and economic reasoning. When a topic involves competing products, technologies, or approaches, faculty present a fair and balanced view of the available options. Emerging or unproven practices are clearly identified as such and are discussed, not advocated. Scientific studies cited in support of any recommendation must meet generally accepted standards of design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

2. Education is separated from marketing and sales

AHVAP CE is free of product promotion, marketing, and sales. Faculty may not promote or sell products or services that serve their professional or financial interests. Educational materials, including slides, handouts, abstracts, disclosure statements, and evaluation instruments, contain no corporate or product logos, trade names, or product group messaging. Where a category of product must be discussed, generic or category-level terminology is used unless a specific product name is essential for scientific accuracy, in which case competing products in that category are named as well.

3. Industry partners have no role in CE content decisions

AHVAP values its relationships with industry partners and recognizes that collaboration between healthcare professionals and industry can improve patient care. Those relationships are kept fully separate from CE. Owners and employees of companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients (ineligible companies) do not plan, control, deliver, or evaluate AHVAP CE content, except in the narrow circumstances permitted by the Standards (non-related content, basic science methodology, or technical device instruction without use recommendations). Sponsorship, exhibit participation, or advertising is never a condition of, and never influences, any decision about topics, faculty, or format.

4. Financial relationships are identified, mitigated, and disclosed

AHVAP collects disclosure of all financial relationships with ineligible companies from every planner, faculty member, reviewer, and other person in control of content. Disclosure is required regardless of dollar amount and regardless of whether the individual believes the relationship is relevant. Relevant relationships are mitigated before the individual assumes their role, mitigation steps are documented, and learners receive disclosure of all relevant relationships, and of the absence of relationships, before engaging with the education.

5. Commercial support is managed independently

When AHVAP accepts financial or in-kind support from an ineligible company, AHVAP makes all decisions regarding its receipt and use. Support is documented in a written agreement executed before the activity begins. Supporters are acknowledged by name only, without logos, trade names, or product messaging. Commercial support is never used to pay for learner travel, lodging, or personal expenses.

6. Learners can always tell the difference

Exhibits, sponsored symposia, industry showcases, and other non-CE activities are clearly labeled as non-accredited and are physically and temporally separated from CE sessions in accordance with the Standards. Learners are never required to view product promotion in order to access CE. AHVAP does not share learner names or contact information with any ineligible company without the learner's explicit consent.

Where AHVAP goes beyond the Standards

AHVAP has adopted additional safeguards that exceed the minimum requirements:

• Extended look-back. Faculty and planners disclose financial relationships with ineligible companies for the prior 36 months, rather than the 24 months required.
• Universal disclosure. Disclosure and mitigation are applied to all AHVAP CE, including non-clinical content such as leadership, contracting, and process improvement, even though the Standards exempt non-clinical education.
• Independent content review. Every CE presentation is reviewed before delivery by at least two trained members of the AHVAP Education Staff with no relevant financial relationships and an external clinical reviewer. Reviewers evaluate the content for balance, evidence quality, and the presence of product-specific or promotional language, and may require revisions as a condition of presentation.
• Product-neutral language standard. Faculty are asked to use category-level terminology in place of brand names wherever possible, and to present comparative evidence when naming a product is unavoidable.
• Learner bias monitoring. Every CE evaluation asks learners whether they perceived commercial bias in the activity. Any report of perceived bias is reviewed by the AHVAP Executive Director and Executive Vice President, and confirmed findings result in corrective action, up to and including removal of the faculty member from future AHVAP CE.
• Disclosure of generative AI use. Faculty disclose any use of generative artificial intelligence in developing educational content and attest that AI-generated material was verified against primary sources.
• Value analysis lens. Because AHVAP education addresses the evaluation of products and technologies directly, faculty are asked to present cost, quality, outcomes, and safety evidence together rather than in isolation, and to identify the limitations and funding sources of any study cited.

AHVAP is accountable to its members, to the patients they serve, and to the profession. Questions or concerns about the independence of any AHVAP educational activity may be directed to [email protected].

Reference: Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Published 2020. Available at accme.org.