FOCUS ON YOUR STRENGTHS: “One of the things that medical societies have is a huge amount of evaluation and outcomes data,” said American Society of Anesthesiologists Chief LearningOfficer Diane Gambill. “The place to invest, in my opin- ion, is in analysis of that data to create grants based on the gaps that are identified from that data.”

don’t just seek input from the members of the academic med- ical world, she added; it’s important to get input fromcommu- nity physician members, too, because they’re closest to the practice gaps. Another way physician organizations can make use of inter-

medical writers from three to 12 and herCMEgroupfrom one to five to support the grant-writing process. At CRF, Hathaway Stella hired a new project manager to

oversee satellite programs so she can spend more time writing grants to fund those programs. She’s also brought on people with more clinical expertise to beef up her grant proposals. “We need to be better versed from a scientific perspective in order to meet the needs assessment and demonstrate the prac- tice gap,” Hathaway Stella said. “My current senior grant associate has a clinical background.” At HRS, Scheck is looking to her association’s members

and leadership for that clinical expertise. She said: “We’re rely- ing more on our physicians to help us with our grant writing and articulate our message.” Gambill also advises physician organizations to tap into

their member knowledge base. “A lot of groups use medical writers who might not have a scientific or medical back- ground,” she said. “That’s okay, as long as you have input from the key thought leaders with regard to what the solutions are to closing the gaps that you identify from your data.” And

TIMELINE: INDUSTRY-BACKED CME

PhRMA and AdvaMed adopt new, more restrictive codes (effective 2009) to govern the pharmaceutical industry’s rela- tionships with physicians and other health-care professionals. Under the new codes, companies can’t provide health-care pro- fessionals with pens, pads,mugs, or other non-educational gifts, and can’t directly provide meals or receptions at CME events.

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-IA, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, contacts leading U.S. medical associations and societies requesting details about industry funding the groups have received since 2003.

50 pcmaconvene April 2012 2009

Federal regulators reach a $2.3-billion settlement with Pfizer for off-label drug promotion — the largest settlement to date with a single defendant in the Justice Department. The Justice Department had charged Pfizer with making illegal pay- ments and providing entertainment and travel gifts to doctors to induce them to promote and prescribe the company’s drugs.

www.pcma.org

nal resources is to mine theirmember data. “The key to success is always to focus on the facts that you have in your hands,” Gambill said. “One of the things that medical societies have is

“We used to do a scattershot approach and blanket the landscape.”

a huge amount of evaluation and outcomes data. The place to invest, in my opinion, is in analysis of that data to create grants based on the gaps that are identified from that data.”

Connected and Collaborative Whether CME providers look outside or turn inward for help with the grant process, the key is to be strategic with grant submissions. “We used to do a scattershot approach and blan-