Health Care Professional Education

Overview 

Eli Lilly and Company recognizes the need for Health Care Professionals* to receive ongoing clinically and scientifically accurate and relevant education in order to provide optimal care to patients.  We believe that we can have an important role in supporting the practice of medicine (and thereby patients) by providing access to and support for education for Health Care Professionals both directly (through Lilly developed programs) and indirectly through community and/or individual sponsorships, where permitted. 

Through educational programs and material, Lilly delivers important scientific education to Health Care Professionals in the disease states and therapeutic areas we study in an effort to enhance clinical knowledge and skills to improve patient outcomes. Lilly also supports the education of Health Care Professionals through healthcare related educational grants and through sponsorships for Health Care Professionals to attend independently organized educational programs. Lilly does not sponsor Health Care Professionals or otherwise provide educational funding for the purpose of rewarding or incentivizing past, current or future prescribing practices. The following Principles define Lilly’s standard for supporting and providing education to Health Care Professionals.

Definition of Health Care Professional Education

Lilly defines Health Care Professional Education as the provision of relevant, accurate, and balanced educational programs to Health Care Professionals through high quality learning programs with the goal of enhancing clinical/scientific knowledge and skills. These programs are designed to share advances in science and healthcare, knowledge in disease states, results of scientifically robust clinical research, and appropriate use of medicines and devices, and are intended to contribute to higher quality decision-making to ultimately result in improved patient care and patient outcomes. 

Conduct of Health Care Professional Education

Health Care Professional Education Programs may be conducted by Lilly directly or indirectly through Lilly’s financial support (generally through restricted grants and/or contributions) of independent educational programs. Lilly’s programs and financial support are subject to applicable local laws, regulations, policies, industry standards and company policies. The content of these programs can be generated through Lilly's own research (typically designed and analyzed with input from external scientists) or through other trusted scientific and peer reviewed sources.  These programs will generally be conducted in the disease states and therapeutic areas in which Lilly is conducting research and/or marketing products.  Market Research, Advisory Boards, Needs Assessments, Outcome Measures or Program Evaluations will be used to ensure that HCPs are receiving valuable and high quality education in an appropriate format and channel.

Funding support for Health Care Professional Education Programs

  • Lilly provides funding for Lilly and Independent educational programs and considers funding for Health Care Professional education in the form of charitable contributions or support for an educational program, scientific award, or select fellowships.  Priority is given to accredited programs and programs for which Lilly is seeking accreditation and funding is restricted to reputable and peer reviewed programs.  In all countries, this funding is subject to applicable local laws, regulations, policies, industry standards and company policies.
  • In some countries Lilly funds legitimate, reasonable, and necessary travel and/or registration expenses for Health Care Professionals to attend/participate in relevant, peer reviewed, and/or accredited Health Care Professional educational forums. Examples include:  congresses, symposia, scientific exchange meetings, independent educational forums. This funding for Health Care Professional’s registration and travel costs is referred to as “sponsorship”.  In certain countries, Health Care Professional sponsorships are not permitted by local law.  In all countries, sponsorships are subject to applicable local laws, regulations, policies, industry standards and company policies.
  • Lilly selects Health Care Professional sponsorship recipients based on educational needs, which are determined by consideration of the following criteria:
    • The Health Care Professional’s identification based on objective criteria as a thought leader or scientific expert or as a speaker for the company
    • The Health Care Professional’s experience, areas of interest and access to education (which may be dependent on the state of the research and education in a given country/region)
    • The Health Care Professional’s ability to understand the main language spoken at the forum.
  • Lilly does not sponsor Health Care Professionals or otherwise provide funding for the purpose of rewarding or incentivizing past, current or future prescribing practices.
    • “International” refers to a program taking place outside the country in which a given Health Care Professional practices
    • These limitations do not include or apply to programs where a Health Care Professional’s attendance has been funded because the individual is giving a presentation on behalf of Lilly
  • All Health Care Professional Education Programs will be held in an appropriate venue that is conducive to the educational objectives and the purpose of the event.  They will not be held in renowned or extravagant venues. 
  • Any forms of hospitality offered to healthcare professionals in conjunction with Health Care Professional Education Programs shall be “reasonable” in level and strictly limited to the main purpose of the event.  The hospitality provided will not exceed what healthcare professional recipients would normally be prepared to pay for themselves.

*Health Care Professional is defined as any individual who is: involved in prescribing and/or dispensing pharmaceutical products to patients; a physician, physician’s assistant, nurse, nurse practitioner, nurse educator, diabetes educator, clinical investigator, clinical psychologist, pharmacist, pharmacy clerk, Pharmacy and Therapeutics (“P&T”) committee member, social worker, case worker, dietician, or office staff; and/or; involved in making P&T access, formulary, purchasing, regulatory, and/or reimbursement decisions on behalf of an institution or a government customer or private customer.

While our provision of sponsorship support for Health Care Professional education is aimed at improving outcomes for patients, we are cognizant of the perceptions of undue influence whenever we provide support to Health Care Professionals who may prescribe or recommend our products without receipt of legitimate return services.  Accordingly, our policy is that we will limit our international sponsorship support to any Health Care Professional to 2 meetings per calendar year.