Introduction
UMass Memorial Medical Center and the UMass Memorial Medical Group are taking a leadership role among academic medical centers regarding how they approach relationships with vendors. As a result, the Medical Center and its employed physicians and clinical staff adopted a vendor relationship policy addressing the acceptance of any of the following from our vendors:
- Gifts, meals/entertainment
- Agreements involving consulting or speakers bureaus
- Continuing medical education or graduate medical education funding/sponsorship
- Donation of drug samples
Additionally, the policy addresses a newly established vendor access and registration process.
With the new vendor policy, UMass Memorial seeks to ensure that all of its decisions, clinical and otherwise, are based on the integrity of professional judgments, research and analyses and are not tainted in any way by the nature of our relationships with any outside party.
This vendor policy does not seek to inhibit true scientific, independent and objective research collaboration, or to prohibit relationships with vendors in support of these objectives. The policy does, however, establish criteria to ensure these objectives are assessed as part of each applicable relationship.
At present, the new policy applies only to the Medical Center, its employed physicians and other employees, including those who are members of the UMass Memorial Community Medical Group. UMass Memorial anticipates expanding the policy to member hospitals (Clinton Hospital, HealthAlliance Hospital, Marlborough Hospital and Wing Memorial Hospital) in the future.
The Medical Center's new vendor access and registration process is aimed at better managing the rising complexities of regulatory compliance issues. These policies were developed with patient safety in mind and will enforce protocols for a more professional and consistent relationship with vendors.