Continuing Education Information for Planners and Speakers

Below is more information about ASN’s continuing education policies, instructions, and recommendations for speakers of sessions which will offer continuing education credit.

Faculty Disclosure and Continuing Education Information

The American Society for Nutrition is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) recognizes live activities offered by ACCME accredited providers.

Please note individuals who are employees or owners of an ineligible company cannot participate in ASN’s continuing education activities. Per ACCME’s standards, individuals who have an ownership interest in a non-publicly traded ineligible company are considered to be owners of an ineligible company. 

Speakers are expected to follow accreditation guidelines and help us create high-quality education that is independent of industry influence. Speakers are required to complete the ASN Continuing Education Activity Disclosure Form. Speakers must disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies that you have had over the past 24 months. Ineligible companies are defined as those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Examples of such organizations include:

• Advertising, marketing, or communication firms whose clients are ineligible companies
• Bio-medical startups that have begun a governmental regulatory approval process
• Compounding pharmacies that manufacture proprietary compounds
• Device manufacturers or distributors
• Diagnostic labs that sell proprietary products
• Growers, distributors, manufacturers or sellers of medical foods and dietary supplements
• Manufacturers of health-related wearable products
• Pharmaceutical companies or distributors
• Pharmacy benefit managers
• Reagent manufacturers or sellers

There is no minimum financial threshold; you must disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies, regardless of the amount. Please disclose any financial relationship with an ineligible company regardless of whether you view the financial relationships as relevant to the education.

Why do we collect this information? 

Since healthcare professionals serve as the trusted authorities when advising patients, they must protect their learning environment from industry influence to ensure they remain true to their ethical commitments. Many healthcare professionals have financial relationships with ineligible companies. By identifying and mitigating relevant financial relationships, we work together to create a protected space to learn, teach, and engage in scientific discourse free from influence from organizations that may have an incentive to insert commercial bias into education. 

What are the next steps in this process? 

After we receive your disclosure information, we will review it to determine whether your financial relationships are relevant to the education. Please note: the identification of relevant financial relationships does not necessarily mean that you are unable to participate in the planning and implementation of this educational activity. Rather, the accreditation standards require that relevant financial relationships are mitigated before you assume your role in this activity. To help us meet these expectations, please use the form provided by ASN to share all financial relationships you have had with ineligible companies during the past 24 months. This information is necessary in order for us to be able to move to the next steps in planning this continuing education activity. If you have questions about these expectations, please contact us at education@nutrition.org. 

Presentation Slides and Content Review

A disclosure slide should be included at the beginning of each presentation.

An optional slide template and formatted disclosure slide will be provided in spring 2024.

Additionally, ASN recommends that all speakers review ASN’s photography and recording policy. As you develop your presentation, we encourage you to include icons on your slides to reflect your preference regarding if you give permission for your slides and presentation to be photographed, recorded, or shared. The icons will be available in the slide template available in spring 2024.

All presentation slides must undergo a content review before the educational activity takes place. Content review typically occurs two weeks before the educational activity occurs. Specific deadlines for submitting your slides for content review will be shared with you in spring 2024.

Ensuring that Clinical Content is Valid

As we continue preparations for the activity, we wanted to share additional information about ASN’s efforts to insure educational content is fair and balanced, and that any clinical content presented supports safe, effective patient care. This includes the expectations that:

• All recommendations for patient care in accredited continuing education must be based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning, while giving a fair and balanced view of diagnostic and therapeutic options.
• All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in accredited education in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
• Although accredited continuing education is an appropriate place to discuss, debate, and explore new and evolving topics, these areas need to be clearly identified as such within the program and individual presentations. It is the responsibility of accredited providers to facilitate engagement with these topics without advocating for, or promoting, practices that are not, or not yet, adequately based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning.
• Content cannot be included in accredited education if it advocates for unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy, or if the education promotes recommendations, treatment, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients.

These expectations are drawn from Standard 1 of the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. For more information, see accme.org/standards.

ASN requests that speakers of its continuing education activities consider using the following best practices when presenting clinical content in accredited CE:

• Clearly describe the level of evidence on which the presentation is based and provide enough information about data (study dates, design, etc.) to enable learners to assess research validity.
• Ensure that, if there is a range of evidence, that the credible sources cited present a balanced view of the evidence.
• If clinical recommendations will be made, include balanced information on all available therapeutic options.
• Address any potential risks or adverse effects that could be caused with any clinical recommendations.

More Information:

ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education