CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

PRESENTED BY THE UMMC OFFICE OF INTEGRITY AND COMPLIANCE

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• A conflict of interest is a commercial relationship in which an employee’s personal interest (financial or otherwise) may appear to influence or compromise the employee’s professional judgment or ethics related to the employee’s institutional responsibilities. This includes interests of the employee’s spouse and dependent children.

WHO CAN HAVE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST?ANYONE! Everyone has the potential for a conflict to exist but knowing what constitutes a possible conflict can aid in better understanding the meaning of a conflict of interest.

WHAT WILL BE REPORTED? Employees and academic/clinical units will report conflicts of

interest on all financial interests. The employee will also report if his/her spouse or immediate family has a commercial relationship or a financial interest in an entity that would appear to reasonably be affected by University business or research.

UMMC Policy on Conflicts of Interest

• The purpose of the policy is to provide the following:– guidelines for identifying and disclosing potential conflicts, – procedures for reviewing and addressing conflicts that may

occur,– establishing sanctions for violation of the policy.

• The policy is also intended to comply with the revised Final Rule on Responsibility of Applicants for Promoting Objectivity in Research for which Public Health Funding is sought

(42 CFR part 50 Subpart F)(August 25, 2011).

2011 Revised FCOI Regulation

• Revised regulations on:– Responsibility of Applicants for Promoting Objectivity in

Research for which Public Health Service Funding is Sought

– Responsibility of Prospective Contractors

• Published in Federal Register on August 25, 2011

• Implementation by August 24, 2012

• Applies to each Notice of Award issued following compliance date of final rule

Added Requirements For Principle Investigators– All investigators currently funded

by a PHS agency for a grant or contract All investigators who participate on a

PHS grant or contract must complete training prior to expenditure of funds

– All sub recipients must complete training before a sub award is issued

– All investigators must complete training at least once every 4 years.

How Do I Know What to Report

• Reporting guidelines are outlined in the revised Conflicts of Interest Policy. A few examples are noted below.

Any outside employment All consulting fees, honoraria, paid authorship All expert witness agreements All non-publicly traded stock/stock options or other ownership interest with

affiliated company 5% or more ownership in publicly traded stocks with an affiliated company Paid educational activities given for reasons other than research and

educational support Any royalties received from textbooks written, implants made, etc. Any reimbursed or sponsored travel (i.e., that which is paid on behalf of the

employee and not reimbursed to the employee so that the exact monetary value may not be readily available), related to their institutional responsibilities.

Conflicts of Interest Form

• Each employee is required to complete or update their Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form:– annually – at the time of application for PHS funding– within 30 days of discovering/acquiring a new

financial interest.

If the employee needs to update his or her disclosure throughout the year, it can be accessed on the

Compliance website via the Intranet. (this link is located under policies and forms)

Conflicts of Interest Related to Outside

Employment When an employee has a Conflict of Interest related

to either Outside Employment/Consulting or Outside Employment Business Activities, the

employee will be required to submit an Application for Permission to Engage in Outside Employment or Practice of Profession after their Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form is completed. The employee will be

automatically routed to an Outside Employment form when they click “paid position” on

their Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form.

Possible Conflicts Scenario 1: I have written a book and now I am

receiving royalty payments. Will I need to report this information?

Yes. Royalty income or the right to receive royalty

income should be reported.

Scenario 2: My wife and I own a rural medical clinic where I work part-time as a physician and my wife acts as the director. Is this something that I need to report?

Yes. Any independent faculty ownership of any clinical facilities should be reported. Also any services

as an officer, director or in any other fiduciary role for an associated company should be reported even if you are not receiving compensation.

Possible ConflictsScenario 3: A vendor sent a gift card and theater passes

to me at my home address thanking me for my help when he visited the campus. Could this appear to be a conflict of interest?

Yes! Any gifts, meals, special favors, entertainment passes, etc. should be reported. This could possibly be a conflict of interest as well as a violation of the UMMC Vendor Interactions Policy.

Scenario 4: I am an employee here and I recently transferred from working in the Medicine department to working in the Newborn Nursery. Will I need to report this information.

No! Any salary or other payment for services from the institution should not be reported.

Possible ConflictsScenario 5: I invented a shoulder implant that is used on

UMMC patients as well as patients throughout Mississippi, can I receive royalty payments for my work?

Depends on the situation! You can receive royalty payments for the procedures that were done at other facilities but not those done at UMMC.

Scenario 6: I serve on the board of directors of XYZ company, do I have to report this information?

Yes! Any service as an officer, director, or in any other fiduciary role for an associated company, whether or not compensation is received for such service must be reported.

Possible Conflicts

• Scenario 7: I am a full time administrative assistant at UMMC and I work two evenings a week at a small town hardware store as a bookeeper. My annual income from the hardware store is $2,500.00. Should I report this?

– Yes! Any income that is brought in from an entity outside of UMMC should be reported.

• Scenario 8: I am employed full time with UMMC housekeeping. My spouse and I are co-owners of a local florist. Should I report this?

– Yes! Any UMMC employee who has interest or stock in any outside business should report it.

Possible Conflicts• Scenario 9: I am a full time employee at UMMC in the

Physical Facilities Department and I am on the Board of Supervisors for my County. Do I have to report this?– Even if there is no compensation, this does need to be

reported.

• Scenario 10: My husband works for a company I know has a contract or does business with UMMC. Do I have to report this?– Yes! This needs to be reported and evaluated by the

Institutional Compliance Committee to ensure there is no conflict.

How to Report a Possible Conflict of

InterestWhat information is needed when I report?

• When you report a possible conflict of interest you will need to disclose the possible conflict. If you are reporting outside employment we will need to know the name of the company, your position there, as well as an approximate amount of your annual payment. If you are reporting consulting agreements or any other agreement where you were given a contract we will need a copy of that contract as well as the information listed above.

???Questions???

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact the Office of Integrity and Compliance at 601-815-

4124.

CongratulationsYou are almost finished with Conflict of Interest Training

Click the link below to go declare if you do or do not have any Conflicts of Interest

https://apps.umc.edu/conflictofinterest/start

Once you have filled out a Conflicts of Interest Form you are finished with Conflicts of Interest Training.

Close this presentation and proceed to the next training presentation