The 16th Annual Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress begins April 16-18 in Washington DC and as is often the case, the agenda promises a compelling mix of presentations covering topics important to new and experienced compliance professionals alike.
Tuesday, April 16th is dedicated to the Congress “prelude” and one of the sessions looks particularly interesting based on its subject matter. Nurse educators are a trending topic in life sciences compliance with the potential for patients misinterpreting the line between medical advice and a commercial sales pitch. The description for the Compliant Nurse Educator prelude includes the timely suggestion that attendees will “gain foundational and operational needed to structure and maintain compliant programs.”
On Day One, Wednesday, April 17th at 11:15 AM, the Highly-Acclaimed U.S. Healthcare Fraud and Enforcement Panel begins with current prosecutors reviewing “Top Enforcement Trends and Focal Points for 2019 and Beyond.” During the Former Prosecutors Panel that follows, three former Assistant US Attorneys will focus on “New Developments on High-Profile and Settlements Uncovering Healthcare Fraud.” The perspective from the regulator side of the table is not readily accessible outside of this type of conference and attendees will be listening carefully for suggestions and tips from those responsible for regulation.
Following the networking lunch (important tip: the networking sessions offer great opportunities to learn from your peers), Day One continues with a series of “content streams” divided by general topic matter.
Patient assistance programs (PAPs) and Patient support programs (PSPs) are certainly under scrutiny (see our recent blog post on the programs here), so we have to recommend Content Stream A: PAPs and PSPs. A team of panelists, including Jennifer McGee from Otsuka, Chetan Shankar from GSK, Francisco Ribeiro Filho of Tesaro and Ann-Marie Tejcek of Eli Lilly will speak in two sessions: Navigate the Complex Legal Landscape of PAPs and Examine PSP Enforcement Trends as Scrutiny Heats Up. Content Stream C: Transparency and Aggregate Spend is also of interest considering the pending expansion of the Sunshine Act to include Advance Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants. It’s time to update that Sunshine Act and Open Payments training!
A series of interactive workshops follow the content streams and I’m looking forward to the Beyond Due Diligence – Auditing and Monitoring Third-Parties session, in particular. Third-party vendor compliance continues to be an area of focus in the industry and Lori Queisser of Teva should bring an important global perspective to the challenges of bringing vendors into compliance as they conduct business of the company’s behalf around the world.
Speaking of hot topics – Interactive Workshop 4: Risks Associated with the Hub and Field Reimbursement Teams so I expect the impressive list of panelists, including Sarah Whipple from Akebia, Joe Philipose from Alexion, and Richard Konzelmann from Sanofi to be speaking to a crowded room of attendees anxious to hear how they are managing the compliance risks that are inextricably linked to the use of Hubs for specialty products.
After a networking and refreshment break at 4:25 PM (don’t forget to stop by the PharmaCertify Booth to see demos of our newest compliance training products), the conference transitions to a series of “think tank sessions.” Frankly, I am not sure of the difference between a workshop and a think tank, but I suppose the changing up the name does make for a more organized agenda.
Anyway, on the think tank front, the Speaker Programs – Best Practice Benchmarking is right at the top of my list. Our recently completed Managing Speaker Program Risk Compliance Foundations
module is already popular among our client base and for good reason. The programs are fraught with risk at every stage, including planning and execution, and this session, featuring Jennifer McGee from Otsuka again, as well as Maggie Feltz of Purdue Pharma, and Rebecca Spitler of Johnson & Johnson, should prove to be a valuable primmer on how to navigate those risks.
Add Social Media – Practical and Pragmatic Guidance to our target list among the think tanks because, well, it’s social media. We’ll also be in the PAP and PSP Benchmarking – How is the Industry Adapting? think tank to hear how Casey Horton and Stefanie Doebler from Navigant are working with their clients to help minimize program risk.
Day 1 closes with an end-of-day cocktail reception and I do recommend taking the time to attend this important networking event before you run out to dinner. It’s a great opportunity to interact with your peers and learn how they are dealing with some of the same challenges you face every day.
Following the Chairman’s Review of Day One, Day Two, Thursday, April 18th opens with an interesting session titled, From the Trenches: An Inside Look at the Forces and Pressures that Drive People to Violate the Law. The idea of approaching compliance from a higher “ethics” level has been a topic for discussion in recent years and companies are clearly seeking ways to integrate the concepts into their policies and procedures. I’ll be interested to hear how the speaker, who is the CEO of Business Ethics Advisors, LLC, how is working with clients to do just that.
After a session dedicated to recent trends in enforcement, featuring Eric Rubenstein from the OIG and Heather Johnson from the FTC, the agenda takes a turn to the future with Rethinking the Compliance Profession – Where Should We Go from Here? Including such forward thinking presentations is appreciated and this look at the future of the industry should dovetail nicely from the opening session on ethics.
Next, attendees choose from what are described as “five in-depth summits.” The Small to Mid-Sized Company Resource Center holds interest for me based on the uniqueness of its title, and simply because I find the small to mid-sized company focused sessions so informative from a standpoint of learning what those with limited resources are doing to address the same challenges their peers at larger companies face.
With HCP interactions still representing so much of the compliance risk companies face, the Compliant Patient Interactions summit should be worthwhile, with an impressive array of industry professionals ideally sharing tips and suggestions for ensuring those interactions are conducted in a compliant manner. Hopefully, training is included on the list of talking points.
Following the final networking luncheon, the conference closes with the reveal of an inaugural benchmarking survey. The agenda does not list what organization conducted the survey, but I’m sure attendees will be listening closely to learn what their peers from “brand/generic, large/small and private/public” companies consider to be their top priorities on the established and emerging compliance risk areas.
Summary
The panel presentations, workshops, think tanks, and summits I touch on in this preview represent just a few of the sessions CBI has planned for this year’s conference. The Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress never fails to deliver the content and networking opportunities industry professionals need to stay abreast of current risk areas, policies, and best practices. I highly recommend the conference for the new and established life sciences compliance professional.
If you are considering the conference but have yet to register, we are still offering discounts on the regular conference registration rate. Contact me at smurphy@nxlevelsolutions.com if you’d like to take advantage of that discount. If you are attending, don’t forget to stop by the PharmaCertify booth to say hi and let me know what you think of our blog. As always, your feedback is appreciated.
Thanks for reading and I will see you in Washington!
Sean Murphy
Editor
Compliance Training Intelligence Blog