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APPENDIX B AcademyHealth
Committee to Develop Ethical Guidelines Background In 2002,
AcademyHealth’s Board of Directors approved the formation of an
advisory committee to assess how we might assist our members as they confront
ethical issues in the conduct of health services research and health policy
analysis. The Ethical Guidelines Committee’s charge was to: explore/affirm
the need for AcademyHealth to develop a set of ethical guidelines; make
recommendations on the scope of such guidelines; and prepare a draft report
for the full Board approval and broad dissemination. November 2002 – The Committee agreed on the scope of the project – financial and non-financial conflicts of interest, rather than a broader range of ethical issues. They identified dimensions that influence, affect and lead to potential conflicts of interest and discussed examples of conflicts of interest that could be used to help inform the guidelines. February 2003 – The Committee refined the sources and character of conflict in health services research, which are influenced by: types of research organizations, types of research sponsors, types of research financing, and types of dissemination strategies. May 2003 – The Committee reviewed an outline of the report and refined the guiding values and examples of conflicts. June 2003 – Members of the Committee conducted a special session at AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting. They sought input from the membership on how best to respond to specific ethical dilemmas and examples of real world cases that individuals or institutions have confronted. Committee Members made presentations at AcademyHealth’s Center Directors Meeting and Meeting of AcademyHealth Members on progress to date. July 2003 – A call for information was sent out to AcademyHealth’s Center Directors for insights into the ethical dilemmas that they face or about which they may be aware. September 2003 – Drawing on suggestions by Committee members and insights from AcademyHealth’s members, Chairman Zeke Emanuel prepared an initial draft report. The report was distributed to Committee members for critical review. October 2003 – The Committee reviewed the draft report, with emphasis on a list of ethical guidelines. November 2003 – The report drafting and review process continued among Committee members. December 2003 – Chairman Zeke Emanuel presented the draft report to AcademyHealth’s Board of Directors for its review. Winter 2003 – Board members offered substantive comments on the draft report for consideration by the Committee. Next Steps April 2004 – Draft report will be distributed to AcademyHealth members for comment. The Committee will review comments and provide final edits on the draft report. June 2004 – At a June 7th meeting of AcademyHealth members during the Annual Research Meeting in San Diego, a summary of comments to date will be provided and additional comments will be invited. To the extent members have limited comments, a final report will be presented to the Board for its approval at its June 8th meeting. If member comments are more extensive, necessitating more work on the report, Board approval will be deferred until the December meeting. In addition to the Board’s review and approval of the final report, they will provide guidance on a dissemination strategy for the ethical guidelines. Summer 2004 or Winter 2005 – The final report and guidelines will be widely disseminated. ___________________________________________
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