Conflict of Interest Policy

WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of ECRI has determined that it is in the best interest of ECRI to establish and maintain conflict-of-interest rules that safeguard institutional integrity; and

WHEREAS, ECRI intends to authorize the taking of all appropriate action in connection with maintaining and enforcing its conflict-of-interest rules.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, as follows:

RESOLVED, ECRI may not accept funds from the medical device, pharmaceutical, or biotechnology industry as defined below except as payment for standard Institute publications, software, information services, or participation in safety collaboratives open to all parties in the interest of improved patient care and public safety.

FURTHER RESOLVED, No ECRI employee may work or consult for, own stock in, or receive payment or gifts from the medical device, pharmaceutical, or biotechnology industry as defined below. Neither ECRI nor its employees may accept speaking fees, travel funds for any purpose, entertainment, or other considerations that could possibly be construed, in ECRI's judgment, as influencing a study or compromising the judgment of the employee or the integrity of ECRI. Employees are expected to immediately disclose to their supervisors or our Vice President for Legal Affairs any actual or implied act by an outside party to inappropriately influence ECRI's assessments, evaluations, judgments, or actions.

FURTHER RESOLVED, Employees shall disclose whether their spouse and/or dependent is an officer, member, owner, shareholder, employee, or agent of a company in the medical device, pharmaceutical, or biotechnology industry. Any such disclosures shall be examined by ECRI's Conflict-of-Interest Committee to determine ECRI's response.

FURTHER RESOLVED, The federal income tax return of each Institute staff member shall be submitted to the Vice President for Finance for review at the time of submission each year to IRS solely for the purpose of confirming that each employee has conformed to the Institute's conflict-of-interest rule stated above. Tax returns shall not be copied or retained in any way. The information in the returns shall be confidential and disclosed to ECRI management only to the extent necessary to ensure compliance with the conflict-of-interest rule stated above.

FURTHER RESOLVED, A medical device, pharmaceutical, or biotechnology company is, for this purpose, defined as a manufacturing and/or marketing entity that derives more than 20% of its gross annual revenues from the development, manufacture, or sale of medical device, pharmaceutical, or biotechnology products.

FURTHER RESOLVED, The Institute welcomes examination of its financial records by any member of the healthcare community, medical product industry, or general public.

*Notwithstanding the provisions listed above, ownership of mutual funds, blind trusts, and similar investments in which the investor is insulated from participating in the fund's investment decisions are excluded from the above mentioned prohibitions.*