Independent Medical Education (IME) is generally defined as education for healthcare professionals (HCPs) provided by an independent educational provider, such as a community hospital, academic center, society/association or medical education & communication company. Genentech/Roche supports grants for independent medical education in an effort to further the advance of medicine and healthcare. By improving the knowledge of the medical community.

Funding Priorities

Grant requests must identify unmet educational needs of a target audience and demonstrate how the program will address the unmet educational needs, and encourage the improvement of medicine and healthcare. The selection of medium and format should be commensurate with the educational needs, the audience, learning preferences, geography, content complexity, and other factors that contribute to educational effectiveness.

Responsibility and control over the selection, content, faculty, educational methods, materials, and venue for an independent medical education event belongs solely to the organizers of the event in accordance with the accredited provider's guidelines. Genentech/Roche will not provide any advice or guidance to the accredited independent medical education provider (even if asked) regarding the content or faculty for any program that has received funding.

How to Apply

Grant requests must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the project/program start date. The following documents are required to submit your application:

• W-9 Form / W-8BEN Form
• Meeting agenda
• Needs assessment document
• Implementation plan

Please note that any communications with Genentech employees outside of IMED regarding content for future independent medical education grant requests may result in denial of those grant requests.

For more information on the funding request process, click here.

Funding Requirements

The funding must be consistent with a Genentech or Roche therapeutic area. For a list of supported therapeutic areas, please click here.

Firewall Requirements:
Organizations which also perform promotional activities must have sufficient separation (firewalls) between the grant requestor's or partner's promotional and medical education business units.

For more information regarding Genentech's firewall requirements, click here.

Funding Restrictions

• Requests for funding an accredited program must be submitted by an accredited provider regardless of the dollar amount requested

Your organization must not be:

• A political or sectarian organization
• An individual, group practice, or private physician office

If your organization is an accredited provider but you will be utilizing a non-accredited third party implementation provider to implement the proposed activity:

• The third-party implementation provider must not be owned in whole or in part by, or controlled by a practicing physician or other HCP, or a group practice of physicians or other HCPs (regardless of size)
• The third-party implementation provider must not be owned in whole or in part by, or controlled by, an individual who is an immediate family member of a practicing physician or other HCP

In order to be eligible the funding must not be used to:

• Develop clinical practice guidelines or algorithms
• Support a religious purpose
• Promote a Genentech or Roche product
• Provide retroactive support, including preparation of enduring materials (materials based on a previously-completed live activity)
• Travel, lodging or registration expenses for non-faculty healthcare professionals to attend an educational program (there are certain exceptions for healthcare professionals in training: i.e. medical students, fellows, etc. to attend major medical society meetings)
• Operating expenses that are not directly and exclusively dedicated to the educational activity being applied for (e.g. equipment, salaries, benefits, journal subscriptions, etc.)
• Support a promotional exhibit or display space/fees (please contact your local Genentech representative regarding requests for exhibit fees)
• Stand-alone entertainment or social events
• Staff/professional development
• Advertising space
• Grant requests from applicants who have received past grant funding, but have not provided required reconciliation information or have not returned unused funds
• Grant requests for programs that take place in a location, venue or in a schedule that detracts from the educational activity as the primary purpose
• Grant requests that contain unacceptable budget line items, such as:
• Funding for healthcare professional partners or guests
• Faculty lodging and/or expense reimbursement out of proportion with the number of days that the faculty is presenting
• Gifts/prizes for faculty or attendees
• Requests for food only
• Funding for faculty dinners not related to content review
• Honoraria or costs in excess of fair market value

Decision Making

Genentech has a rolling review policy when evaluating funding requests for independent medical education, which means that we do not have a specific deadline for which funding requests must be received. This allows qualified requestors the opportunity to apply anytime during year. We do, however, recommend that you submit your request as early as possible. To assure adequate opportunity for review. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis; you will usually hear back from Genentech within 4 to 8 weeks of application.




Letter of Agreement (LOA)

All grants must abide by the terms in the Genentech Letter of Agreement (LOA), which is issued to an authorized signer of your organization once the application is approved. You must agree to the terms of the LOA before any funding is issued. If you have any questions on the agreement terms, please contact us at (877) 313-5778.




Post Payment Actions

• You will receive a monthly email requesting a project status update.
• You will receive an email requesting that you provide outcome information once your project end date has passed. You will have 90 days to supply this information.
• When your project end date has passed, you will receive an email requesting that you reconcile your projected budget with actual expenditures. You must supply reconciliation information within 90 days of the request.




IME Reconciliation
 

Providing Status Updates Tip Sheet
Providing Outcome Information Tip Sheet
Budget Reconciliation Tip Sheet

 

Resources

Office of Inspector General (OIG) Guidelines
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Commercial Support
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals
American Medical Association (AMA) Ethical Guidelines for Gifts to Physicians From Industry
FDA Guidance on Industry-Supported Scientific and Educational Activities