Frequently asked questions

Why is GSK publishing information about their grants?

GSK is proactively publishing quarterly reports of grant funding in order to transparently identify the support we offer to US-based healthcare organizations for independent and quality educational programs and charitable contributions. We support these programs because we believe in the importance of supporting programs that improve patient care.

What information is published in the report?

The report includes educational and charitable grants provided to health-related organizations, including managed care organizations, health maintenance organizations, hospitals, professional and patient associations, continuing medical education companies and teaching institutions. The report includes the organization’s name, a description of the program that was supported and the amount of funding provided for the program.  As of Jan. 1, 2010, GSK will no longer fund programs by medical education and communication companies.

What is not included in the report?

• Non-grant funding for fee-for-service payments between GSK and medical professionals or health-related organizations
• Clinical studies and non-clinical, basic research grants
• Individual or Corporate Memberships in health-related organizations
• Non-health-related organization charitable contributions (e.g. United Way)
• Exhibit fees
• Advertising fees
• Payments to primary, secondary or tertiary schools for educational programs for non-healthcare professionals, such as those provided through our Community Partnerships programs.

Why isn’t GSK including physician payments in this report?

GSK has separately announced plans to publish fee-for-service payments between GSK and medical professionals. We plan to publish our first report later in 2009. It’s important to note that grants are provided to health-related organizations – not individual healthcare professionals. Physician payments are only provided on a fee-for-service basis and are not considered grants.

How does GSK determine which organizations/events to fund?

GSK has strict, objective criteria in place to govern the grant funding and approval process. Requests are evaluated on the basis of alignment with our educational objectives and our therapeutic areas of interest. Community Partnership grants are provided based on community needs, independent from our therapeutic areas of interest. All requests are subject to the availability of funding.

Does GSK fund programs developed by Medical Education Companies?

GSK will not fund grants submitted by accredited medial education and communication companies as of Jan. 1, 2010.

Does GSK fund CME programs in order to influence doctors and get them to prescribe your medicine?

No. GSK is committed to supporting quality healthcare education. Our goal is to support independent medical education programs for healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals) to increase their knowledge, competence, performance and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Doctors and other healthcare professionals must take CME/CE courses to maintain their licenses and hospital privileges. The Accreditation Council for CME (ACCME), Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and others set accreditation criteria for the programs to physicians, pharmacists, nurses and other healthcare professionals. It is also important to note that GSK does not control the content of independent educational programs and that the purpose of the programs is not to promote GSK products.

How do you measure the success of your CME grants?

It will be the responsibility of the educational provider to independently assess the effectiveness of their program in closing identified gaps in healthcare professionals’ education or clinical practice. This progress will be measured by generally accepted educational assessment scales used by continuing medical education professionals. The best impact a program can have is improved patient care.

What is GSK doing to disclose grants outside of the US?

In Europe and International markets, GSK has been disclosing grants and donations to patient groups with publication starting in 2007. These reports are published on www.gsk.com.

What areas of GSK’s business provide grants that are included in the report?

Included in the report are grants to US-based healthcare-related organizations from GSK US Consumer Healthcare, GSK US Pharmaceuticals, GSK Puerto Rico, GSK Corporate and GSK US Research & Development business units.

How much money does GSK spend on CME every year? How does this compare to other companies?

Funding overall and for individual grants depends on the quality, scope and complexity of the educational program and its anticipated impact on improving patient health.

How often will you update the Web site?

The site will be updated on a quarterly basis.