Joint Providership Honoraria/Travel Reimbursement Policy

Commercial support may be used to pay for travel, lodging, honoraria or personal expenses only for bona fide faculty, directors, speakers employees and volunteers of the provider, joint provider or educational partner.

An honorarium is a payment usually made to a speaker or lecturer as a "thank you" and gesture of good will and appreciation. An honorarium is not based on an agreed amount between the individual providing services and the individual seeking services. If payment is agreed upon, this constitutes a contractual agreement.

The amount of the honoraria must be determined by and paid directly from the joint provided organization and cannot be transferred directly from the commercial supporter to the individual. No other payment shall be given to the director of the activity, planning committee members, teachers or authors, joint provider or any others involved with the supported activity.

The joint provider must comply with the following in regards to honoraria:

• The amount of the honoraria is at the discretion of the joint provided organization and should be a reasonable amount.
• Honoraria should be a separate line item in your budget.
• Industry representatives or other financial contributors of the activity must not have any influence over the amount of honoraria.
• Letters of Agreement (LOAs) for educational grants regarding those funds must be reviewed, approved and signed by the AANS.
• The joint provided organization is to comply with any and all Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines.
• The joint provided organization is to comply with any and all ACCME guidelines, specifically the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education.