A fresh imperative to keep records
The impending reporting requirements are acting as a catalyst for SMMP
development in health-care fields, explains Debi Scholar, president of
the Scholar Consulting Group in Scotch Plains, N.J. That's notable, says
the strategic meetings management expert, because SMM currently is
taking a backseat to tactical meeting planning in many other industries.
"Meetings are picking up and hotels are filling up," Scholar points
out, "but resources are rarely being added to meetings programs right
now. Planners are being asked to do more with less, and it's becoming
hard for people at many companies to find time and resources for
strategy planning. But the pharma industry is the main exception to this
trend; because of the Sunshine Act, they just can't afford to put SMM
on the back burner."
That's despite the fact that medical-meetings professionals still are
awaiting the final requirements on just what must be reported and how.
The Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services, the government entity
charged with stipulating the precise requirements, could issue that
ruling by the end of this month. Companies originally were supposed to
file their first payments report by March 31 of this year; while that
will almost certainly be delayed, the companies must nevertheless have
been collecting, for the past year, all potentially relevant data to
ensure they are ready to report when charged to do so.
In the meantime, "Most companies have the bones of an SMMP in place, or
at least the inklings of it," Steve O'Malley says of the health-care
firms he works with at Maxvantage. The biggest pharmaceutical clients --
ones his company has been serving for many years -- have some of the
most mature and robust SMMPs in any industry, says O'Malley. The
challenge now, he notes, is processing all of the payment data they're
required to collect: "We've got this whole new stream of data. How do we
put it all together in a way that makes sense? How do we get the best
holistic view so that it's actionable and useful to each company, in
addition to being reportable?"
The need to take a basic SMM program to the next level is something
O'Malley says is coming up in nearly every discussion with prospective
clients these days. "Many really don't have a grip on the right kind of
data that they need to fulfill reporting requirements," he says. "In
many cases, companies purchase technology they think will give them all
the information they need. But buying the technology alone is not an
SMMP. You also have to have the people and the processes in place to get
what you need from that technology."
Representatives from Active Network and Cvent, two major providers of
such technology, say they're seeing more clients looking beyond
piecemeal technology tools. "We're dealing a lot with companies that are
either implementing SMMPs or have an SMM focus," says Lisa Palmeri, a
former pharma planner who is now director of professional services at
Cvent. "They're looking for an end-to-end solution to help them automate
their meeting policies, meeting processes and standard operating
procedures."
However, unlike the largest firms, many small to midsize pharma and
medical-device companies have only recently realized the importance of
SMM, notes Debi Scholar. "Many have not taken it seriously," she says,
"and because the Sunshine Act requirements were delayed again, some have
been able to skirt the implementation of technology and SMM plans a
little longer."
Such lack of concern worries James Vachon, associate director of
corporate meetings and conventions for Millennium Pharmaceuticals, whose
events, meetings and conventions group serves the 1,100-employee
biopharmaceutical company in Cambridge, Mass. While the meetings program
at Millennium enjoys the full support of its parent company, the
Japanese pharma giant Takeda, Vachon has been disheartened to see far
less support at many other small pharmas -- and, in some cases, the
dissolution of meetings groups altogether.
"When you have organizations that don't understand the value of groups
like ours," notes Vachon, "and they don't see the benefits of an SMMP,
you have to ask the question: How are you managing the liability that
comes with all of these regulatory guidelines that you have to follow
and the compliance issues that we have to be conscientious of? A company
can be opening itself up to an enormous amount of liability if it's not
working with the right people. When you don't have a group within the
organization to define who those right partners are, it could be,
especially in this day and age, really detrimental."