StarCite, a provider of web-based solutions for meetings management, recently issued a white paper called Gearing Up for Sunshine Reporting Act Deadlines that includes key questions pertaining to compliance matters. A complete copy of the white paper is available at www.starcite.com.
Here is an excerpt:
Q: What areas of the meeting planning and management process do I need to consider to ensure that I am capturing the HCP (health-care professional) spend data that is required?
Budgeting: As you track meeting expenses, set up your budget fields to match the reporting categories required by the Sunshine Provisions. Create an overview of HCP meeting spend that is separate from all other types of events, create a carve-out in the budget module that identifies HCP-related expenditures.
Sourcing: Identify preferred hotels and suppliers that may be most appropriate for HCP-related events, for example, those that offer rates that fall within any pre-determined spend limits or property type/rating categories that meet your organization’s guidelines.
Event Marketing and Attendee Management: When managing HCPs for your event, capture their unique identification numbers in your address book and trace associated costs (by activity, e.g. dining, air travel) via that number. Another tip: Create communication templates that spell out Sunshine Provision disclosures to HCPs. They’ll come in handy for posting information on registration sites, invitations to events and other communication.
Reporting: Because your company will be required to report HCP meetings spend once a year to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the data you receive in reports will be extremely important. Ensure that your meetings technology is robust and provides the following: the ability to capture data in a single data warehouse; easy-to-reference dashboard reports of consolidated spend; the ability to customize reports and build ad-hoc reports; and the ability to integrate with other corporate systems, such as CRM tools, in order to capture HCP spend by sales.