PPSA Data: How will the industry adapt?

As the healthcare industry waits for CMS to issue final rules for the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (PPSA) many questions remain. Building systems and processes are still the primary focus for many pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies as they set out to monitor spending as never before. But as the rules and systems are put in place the impact on industry relationships and the health care community is not clear. With just over one year remaining before 2012 aggregate-spend reports are due the question remains; how will the data be viewed and used?   

Soon thousands of records will be passed from manufacturers and covered entities into publicly available CMS and state web sites exposing previously unseen transactions to the light of day. As these transactions are disclosed the information will inevitably spark questions as to the nature and amounts of the payments. It is important that this information be reported accurately and also understood so that perceived conflicts of interests are not associated with each transaction made to a health care professional (HCP). The information must be managed in ways that give meaning to the purpose and value of these relationships.

As scrutiny intensifies, BioPharma, device and specialty companies must make smart investments in information technology, business processes, and compliance policies. Companies will need to employ comprehensive analytics across sales, marketing and R&D to develop systems and strategies to minimize exposure to compliance risk. They must also work to ensure that the collaboration between industry and the medical community is understood by the public.

These new challenges mean companies must commit to operational excellence in managing their data and communications by pushing the right analytic tools deeper into the organization. These tools will allow companies to effectively manage enterprise data and look out across a competitive landscape to support strategic and tactical planning while maintaining safe harbors under the watchful eye of the public.   

The new transparency environment will also generate new types of competitive intelligence capable of providing value across organizations. As data and reporting requirements continue to increase the role of business intelligence as a management tool will become increasingly important within the changing regulatory environment from 2012 and beyond. Companies will find that advanced analytic tools and data management will be an increasing and necessary component to business success.

After systems are in place, a lot will rest on how companies view their data and use the aggregate-spend information in combination with other industry related data. Business intelligence tools will provide new insights on macro and micro levels of business, helping companies manage and shape the nature of HCP relationships and the budgets that support them.