Standards Code

EphMRA Code of Conduct

The EphMRA Code of Conduct for International Healthcare Market Research. The Comprehensive Guide for today’s International Healthcare Market Researcher.

EphMRA Code of Conduct - Updated April 2013 - includes: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Japan, Russia, USA.

Changes made to the Code since 2009 - at a glance - updated April 2013

Code Proformas

Code translated into French, German, Italian and Spanish

Enquiry Service - free to Members

Code FAQs (updated September 2012) - If ever you need clarification on any aspect of the EphMRA Code of Conduct, don’t hesitate to use our Code Query Service. Many members have already done just that – and here, for the benefit for all, are some of the anonymised questions and EphMRA’s answers.

Country Updates and News

As international healthcare market researchers, we need up-to-date, sector-specific guidance on the critical issues affecting our industry. That’s why, in our biggest and most important initiative for 2009, EphMRA has created a brand new Code of Conduct for healthcare market research - replacing the previous Joint Code with ESOMAR.

Now more than ever before, researchers from both client and agency side are equipped to define and safeguard the rights of respondents and protect data integrity.

About the Code of Conduct - A milestone in EphMRA’s pursuit of excellence in professional standards and practices, the new Code provides:

· An international healthcare industry focus

· New & important guidance on legal, ethical and data protection issues

· Vital updates to relevant points from the existing Code

· Synchronicity with local country codes

· A Code Enquiry Service for Members (submit enquiries here)

· Planned annual updates to address both current and future needs.

(Please do not contact the EphMRA Steering Group or Ethics Group direct with any questions - please use the Enquiry service via the online form).

Revised Adverse Event Reporting Guidelines - now available here.

As you are probably aware adverse event reporting from market research studies is now explicitly included within the EMA’s new ‘Guidelines on Good Pharmacovigilance Practices’ and pharmaceutical manufacturers and market research agencies working on their behalf have to forward possible adverse events (that meet specific criteria). EphMRA’s Ethics Team working with an AER Task Force made up of senior and experienced EphMRA members have re-drafted the AER Guidelines in line with the EMA’s requirements.

We also wanted to point out that these are INTERIM guidelines because there is one issue upon which we are still awaiting feedback from the EMA – their final guidance upon how to address the management of safety information when some of the minimum reporting criteria are missing for individual case safety reports to be valid (e.g. the information collected by the interviewers does not allow us to distinguish individual patients). The EMA cannot discuss this issue with member states within the appropriate working party until early 2013. EphMRA is aware of the pressing need to produce revised guidelines and so following discussions with the EMA has issued interim guidelines.

Finally, thank you to all those that contributed to the drafting of the guidelines and provided feedback.

Standards Code

EphMRA Code of Conduct

Incentives - at a glance

Revised Adverse Event Reporting Guidelines - now available here.

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