According to the “ACCME Annual Report Data 2002,” released earlier this summer, the CME business is still going strong. Total income for last year was almost $1.6 billion, a 14.5 percent increase over 2001; this is an even larger increase than was shown in last year's report, in which total income climbed only 9 percent over 2000 levels. Average income per organization also is on the rise, up 12 percent in 2002, versus a 10 percent increase in 2001 over the previous year.
At more than $746 million in 2002, total commercial support jumped 31 percent over the previous year, outshining even last year's 23 percent climb over 2000 levels. The top beneficiaries of commercial support in 2002 also showed a change, with medical education companies edging out 2001's leader, medical schools, for the top recipient spot in 2002, with reported total commercial support of $158 million and $154 million, respectively. Communication companies, which last year ran a close second, came in third at $136 million. Insurance/managed care companies reaped the smallest commercial support harvest, with just $30,000 in 2002, trailing far behind the next smallest recipient, state medical societies, at $2.2 million.
| 2002 ANNUAL CME DATA REPORT | TOTAL INCOME | TOTAL COMMERCIAL SUPPORT |
|---|---|---|
| Communications company | $141,036,129 | $136,198,049 |
| Consortium/Alliance | $12,962,371 | $5,900,592 |
| Education company | $201,250,714 | $158,374,146 |
| Government or military | $80,133,072 | $5,768,611 |
| Healthcare delivery system | $22,889,397 | $13,958,663 |
| Hospital | $33,485,669 | $16,124,790 |
| Insurance company/Managed care | $725,868 | $30,000 |
| Not-for-profit foundation (501c3) | $119,763,263 | $41,710,729 |
| Other | $72,632,797 | $2,843,788 |
| Physician member org. (non-specialty) | $14,953,458 | $5,675,183 |
| Physician member org. (speciality) | $516,134,541 | $117,351,159 |
| Publishing company | $51,455,676 | $25,303,377 |
| School of medicine | $276,159,062 | $154,670,595 |
| State medical society | $9,594,490 | $2,229,423 |
| Voluntary health association | $8,002,966 | $2,697,645 |
| Grand total 2002 | $1,596,198,865 | $746,015,426 |
| Grand total 2001 | $1,271,189,580 | $568,767,299 |
While the vast majority of the commercial support received came from firms that manufacture products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration — a per-organization average of more than $1 million — an average of more than $37,000 of that total came from other sources. Medical schools and a category called “other” seemed to excel at finding non-pharma financial sources; between the two, which were close to evenly split, they accounted for more than $15 million of the total, which was almost $26 million. Specialty societies came in third for non-pharma funding, at more than $3 million. Still, non-pharma commercial support was down 10 percent from 2001 levels, where it reached almost $29 million.
Live Internet CME remains relatively flat for the second year in a row, with no discernable bump in the number of hours or activities provided. Medical schools led the online charge. While specialty societies were nipping at their heels, none reported any jointly sponsored Internet activities. Healthcare delivery systems came in first with jointly sponsored programs. The Internet is still growing in popularity for enduring materials, with more than 4,000 organizations using it for that purpose for almost 17,000 hours of education in total.
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