SCAI Principles for Accepting Funding from External Sources

PRINCIPLES FOR ACCEPTING FUNDS FROM EXTERNAL SOURCES

These principles set forth the conditions for accepting support from external sources including, but not limited to, industry, philanthropic or individual donor. Support can be in the form of financial or non-financial/in-kind (i.e. products or services). SCAI’s mission to Save and Enhance Lives is tantamount. We recognize the value of all support, financial and otherwise, and the opportunities it provides to further our mission and provide even better patient care.

These principles are designed to clearly define an objective tool to ensure fair and consistent evaluation of all potential support as well as the transparent disclosure of all support. SCAI is committed to the ethical use of funds and a commitment to non-influence of the funding sources over the content of the funded projects or SCAI.

To this end we have adopted the following 6-point criteria for accepting external funding:

1. Supporter desires to provide financial support to SCAI to further our mission to save and improve lives.
2. The supporter agrees that the projects that they support will bear the supporter name (e.g. corporate entity, foundation, etc) only and not specific products or services. 
3. The supporter agrees that they will have no authority to direct or influence the educational aspects of content or other projects. 
4. The supporter agrees that the relationship with SCAI can in no way be used to imply endorsement of the supporter or any of its products, services, or mission(s).
5. Supporters are encouraged to make unrestricted contributions; however, they are permitted to make contributions restricted to a specific purpose, so long as that purpose is consistent with the mission of SCAI and does not violate any aspect of the funding policy.
6. Supporters may not attempt to restrict the acceptance of funding from other sources.

As an organization, SCAI commits to the following stipulations to further ensure its ethical approach to maintain complete independence from industry in all content and assertions. 

• SCAI is committed to the ethical use of funds and to non-influence of the funding sources over the educational, public policy, communications or scientific decisions of the Society
• Supported activities must adhere strictly to guidelines and regulations of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the American Medical Association (AMA)
• SCAI clinical documents and guidelines are completely independent of any commercial support
• A statement addressing Conflicts of Interest is distributed and accepted at the beginning of all Board of Trustees, Committee and Council meetings.
• SCAI shares this policy with supporters before accepting funding. 
• Relevant official communications regarding a supported activity contain a disclosure acknowledging the unrestricted/restricted support for the activity provided while taking sole responsibility for all content developed and disseminated through the effort. Acceptance of funds does not imply endorsement of the donor or its products, services, or mission.

Oversight and compliance with this policy will be the responsibility of SCAI staff. In the event of any supporters, products, content, or images that staff deems questionable, the Ethics Committee will be responsible for a 48-hour review and recommendation. If they are unable to resolve, the Executive Committee will be the final arbiter.