Creating an institutional conflict-of-interest policy at Johns Hopkins: progress and lessons learned.

Unlike policies that address biomedical conflict of interest for individuals, conflict-of-interest policies for academic medical institutions are rare and lack consensus principles. Johns Hopkins Medicine is currently developing an institutional conflict-of-interest policy that emphasizes case-by-case review and disclosure of conflicts to research subjects and the public. Implementation of the policy will focus on transparency, consistent enforcement throughout the institution, thorough employee education about the policy, and ongoing policy review.