Best Practices for HCP Compliance
Based on government regulations, healthcare organizations and their business associates must have a custom HCP compliance program with HIPAA and OSHA, as well as corporate policies and procedures written specifically for their group. They then must then train their employees on these policies. As regulatory requirements continue to evolve, the Life Science industry requires innovative solutions to manage compliant healthcare professional (HCP) transfer of value interactions. These interactions need to be delivered and monitored in a consistent manner to assure compliance and maintain high customer satisfaction while keeping costs down.
There is a huge amount of reporting required when undertaking a pharma meeting.
There are codes of conduct that dictate how pharmaceutical companies and planners can interact with health care professionals. These rules come from four different authorities— Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing of America (PhRMA), Advanced Medical Technology Association Code of Ethics, The Sunshine Act that requires payments of things of value to doctors and hospitals to be publicly reported, and individual state laws where the meeting takes place. Any of these can be amended at any time, and event planners must be constantly aware of any and all regulations.
The best way to keep up with all new regulations for HCP compliance is to subscribe to publications, attend seminars and always conduct due diligence before any event.
There are specific codes and regulations for what can be given away and what can be sponsored. For pharma, everything has to be conducted in the name of education. So you might see fewer giveaways on the exhibit floor but maybe more sponsoring of speakers, or education sessions.
Whatever the format, it is important to create standard operating procedures for post-event follow-up to ensure HCP compliance.
Many event planners follow up with participating pharmaceutical companies who sponsored the event by sharing event reports. The information that is sent to them includes the name of the HCP, credentials, demographic information and the type and amount of each expenditure.
With a pharma meeting involving doctors, every dollar must be tracked, broken down to what is spent on each individual attendee and properly reported. Cab rides, meals and expenses over $10 paid for or provided must be tracked and reported.
Organizations planning pharma events must also be vigilant of the cost constraints placed on life sciences companies related to travel bans. As with many industries in the current economy, pharma companies are under pressure to lower operating costs to preserve bottom line revenue. An immediate way to reduce cost is to restrict all nonessential business travel.
Venue Compliance
Event planners should choose a venue that is centrally located to as many of their invitees as possible. In addition, they should consider delivering the bulk of their information in the shortest amount of time possible, i.e. one-day conference as opposed to multi-day conference.
It is important to seek out certified health care meeting compliance planners to ensure your pharma meeting is a success. The best way to ensure HCP compliance and have a successful meeting while keeping everyone happy is simply keeping accurate records, following the rules, keeping up with the regulations and submitting the information to the pharma companies on time.
Compliance Tips & Tricks
Got a tip or trick for meeting HCP Compliance or other regulations? Submit your tip here to share it with the world and be featured on our blog!