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Disclosure,
Mission Statement, CME Policies
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HDCN is published by Medtext,
Inc., 15W560 89th St., Burr Ridge, IL 60527.
Content development is overseen
by the HDCN editorial board. HDCN also works informally
with other professional and local societies in the field to provide
web extensions of key talks from their scientific meetings.
Mission Statement:
The mission of HDCN is to provide nephrologists and health care
providers who treat patients with hypertension and kidney disease
with access to the latest literature and advances in the field.
CME Purpose:
To do this, HDCN provides, in a digestible format, a weekly update
of information, usually including links to 5-20 key clinical articles
that have appeared, all from major top-tier scientific journals,
one or more slide/audio lectures, drawn from those given at a recent
major national scientific meeting, and/or selected abstracts from
one of the major kidney disease or hypertension meetings. The purpose
is to allow busy nephrologists and other providers who often do
not have time to attend scientific meetings, to be exposed to new
advances in the field from the comfort of their home, and yet to
participate in some of the audiovisual enhancements associated with
lectures and interactive quizzes.
CME Content:
HDCN is divided into 3 content areas: (1) Hypertension and Cardiovascular
Disease, (2) Chronic kidney disease and dialysis, and (3) Clinical
Nephrology. A breakdown by topic can be found at http://www.hdcn.com/inbytop.htm
A breakdown of slide/audio lectures can be found at http://www.hdcn.com/inslide.htm
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Target audience:
The target audience includes (1) Nephrologists, (2) Other physicians
interested in renal and cardiovascular medicine, and (3) nurses
and dialysis technologists involved in the care of renal patients.
CE-accredited content is provided on HDCN in cooperation with the
American Nephrology Nurses' Association and the Renal Education
Association. Programs intended for nurses are clearly
marked as such and are not intended for physicians. HDCN also
occasionally posts CE programs for dietitians and pharmacists created by
accredited providers.
Parent organization
and ownership: HDCN has no ownership nor Board of
Director links with any pharmaceutical
firm or provider of medical equipment or services. There is no parent
organization.
Continuing
Medical Education Policies at HDCN
In accord with the policies of HDCN, and the Essential Areas and
Policies and Standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing
Medical Education (ACCME), the ethical opinions of the American
Medical Association (AMA), the Guidelines of the Pharmaceutical
Research Manufacturers Association (PhRMA), the American Nurses
Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation (ANCC), the American
Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE), and all other professional
organizations as applicable, all programs offered by HDCN shall
exhibit fair content balance, providing the audience with information
of different perspectives from which to develop an informed opinion.
All faculty participating in any CME- or CE-granting HDCN
sponsored/co-sponsored program
are expected to disclose to the audience any real or apparent conflict(s)
of interest during the past two years that may have a direct bearing
on the subject matter of the continuing education program. This
pertains to relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical
device manufacturers, or other corporations whose products or services
are related to the therapeutic areas to be discussed.
Accreditation
HDCN is currently not accredited by the Accreditation Council for
Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical
education for physicians, nor by the ANCC. HDCN currently
works with ACCME- accredited providers to make available
ACCME- accredited content on the internet. Also, HDCN works with
the American Nephrology Nurses' Association and the Renal Education
Association, to provide CE-accredited content for nurses and technicians.
HDCN Conflict
of Interest Policy
It is intended that any potential conflict should be identified
openly so that the listeners may form their own judgements about
the presentation(s) with full disclosure of the facts. It remains
for the audience to determine whether the outside interests of the
faculty reflect a possible bias in either the materials or the conclusions
presented. The opinions and recommendations presented do not necessarily
reflect the views of the sponsor, grantor, or producer.
Indications
and methods of use for pharmaceutical agents and other products
in this program may not be necessarily the same as those indicated
in the package insert for the product and may reflect the clinical
experience, the professional literature or other clinical sources
HDCN Privacy
Policy
HDCN does not disclose any individual information pertaining to
its registered users or paid subscribers to anyone. Aggregate data
are given to potential supporters of educational symposia as well
as to potential advertisers. When an HDCN user takes an evaluation
or other quiz, individual quiz results are not disclosed to any
third party. In fact, individual quiz data are not collected unless
specified on a particular quiz. Login IDs are sometimes requested
on quizzes and polls to restrict counting of results from desired
subgroups of HDCN users such as physicians, nurses, or dialysis
technicians.
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