The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) works to maintain the utmost quality of patient care and healthcare worker safety in all healthcare settings. In this role, SHEA issues guidelines, provides education and training, and offers opinions on a wide range of issues in healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and patient and healthcare worker safety. The Society works to ensure that decisions made are truly in the best interest of the Society and its goals, and not those of other organizations.
To this end, SHEA must ensure not only that there are no genuine conflicts of interest, but also that there are no perceived conflicts of interest on the part of members who hold positions of responsibility within the organization or who engage in work on behalf of SHEA. It is therefore the policy of the organization that all financial relationships and organizational affiliations that potentially pose a conflict of interest must be disclosed, reviewed and, where appropriate, managed to ensure the highest level of transparency and accountability.
SHEA Board members, committee volunteers and others acting on behalf of the Society are required to submit annual disclosure statements outlining all financial relationships with commercial entities and organizational affiliations relevant to healthcare covering the prior two calendar years.
Planners, faculty and invited speakers for SHEA sponsored educational activities also complete disclosure and attestation statements for each educational activity in which they participate, in accordance with requirements of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and SHEA’s standing policy on conflict identification and resolution for CME programs.
SHEA’s funding comes from a variety of sources, including membership dues, journal royalties, Annual Meeting fees, and grants from government agencies, private foundations, and industry.
To advance SHEA’s mission and primary goals, the Society accepts outside support and engages in collaborative efforts with industry, most notably pharmaceutical firms. The Society strives to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with industry to enhance the educational benefits for members and to improve health care for the public. To ensure the establishment of relationships with industry entities without compromising accepted ethical and educational standards, the Society endorses and conforms to the strict funding of SHEA Industry Policy on Corporate Interaction.