AAMC pushes clinical-care conflict-of-interest policies

The Association of American Medical Colleges has released a report with recommendations on how academic medical institutions should address and disclose to patients physician and institutional conflict of interest that can negatively affect the delivery of patient care.

The report, the third and final in a series of AAMC reports addressing conflict of interest, calls on academic medical institutions to create clinical-care conflict-of-interest policies similar to those developed to govern conflict of interest in research.

Among the suggestions, the report, “In the Interest of Patients: Recommendations for Physician Financial Relationships and Clinical Decision Making,” advises academic medical centers to move beyond physician-industry relationships when evaluating financial-compensation sources that can influence physicians' treatment choices for patients. The authors note, for example, that capitated reimbursement, fee-for-service and pay-for-performance systems may each exert financial influence over doctors' treatment decisions.

The report also addresses the importance of academic medical institutions setting an example for physicians by creating and following standards for addressing institutionwide clinical-care conflict of interest. The report recommends that academic medical institutions establish mechanism for identifying industry financial relationships that have potential to bias clinical decision-making, set specific thresholds for reporting and evaluating those conflicts, and solicit patient input on when public disclosure of financial conflicts is useful.