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Manage all physician interactions to ensure state-specific compliance

Pharma Compliance Alert, July 19, 2006

Complying with state-by-state regulations means more than merely keeping track of the various requirements. Pharma companies also need a centralized database to track and manage all physician interactions, according to Jeff Brady, president of Advanced Health Media, a technology-driven pharma events firm.

Brady says such a database needs to bridge the different functions of a pharma company, connect commercial operations with research and development, and track all the ways a single healthcare provider can interact with a company. Most companies cannot currently accommodate this type of cross-organizational information sharing, which makes setting up a database particularly difficult.

However, "as challenging as it is to create a comprehensive database, that doesn't go far enough," Brady says. "The real objective should be to proactively manage the way you interact with healthcare professionals to prevent noncompliance before it occurs," he says.

Such a system should compile all relevant physician data in one place in order to manage and plan current and upcoming interactions. If everyone in the company uses the same system, all healthcare provider interactions will be funneled through it, enabling compliant meetings and interactions across the organization-what Brady refers to as "proactive compliance."

In an environment that's so dynamic, system adaptability is crucial, Brady says. Each state has its own agenda and approach to compliance. As a result, the compliance system needs to follow a process that accounts for differences among states.

Brady outlined a five-step process for state-by-state compliance:

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