Still unsure about introducing a compliance analytics program into your company?
You’re not alone. Of the 9272* medical drug and device companies in the USA, only 1,481 submitted their CMS report in 2016, down from 1,579 in 2015.
While for some, macro issues like M&A and CIAs may explain the lack of a report, other companies are held back by popular misunderstandings about compliance analytics.
Is yours one of them? Let’s find out!
Question#1: Is Pharma Compliance/Transparency completely a ‘numbers game’?
The correct answer is ‘no’. It’s not. While spend data is largely quantitative, qualitative insights form the basis on which assumptions about spend patterns, thresholds, and benchmarks are set.
For instance, industry news, demographic shifts, and R&D breakthroughs all feed the decisions behind spend budget per drug, per territory, and per sales rep.
But before those decisions (or allocations)! Can be made, you need to qualitatively ascertain the impact and relevance of each. For this, you need spend data visibility and a willingness to invest time in understanding your company’s compliance function.
Question#2: Should a Compliance/Transparency professional wear many functional hats?
Yes, actually. Though we would qualify that answer by saying ‘objectively’.
When some compliance/transparency professionals walk into work each morning, they invite anxious glances from functional heads in sales, marketing, and even corporate finance. Many see compliance/transparency professionals as that daunting teacher who will call into question their entire year’s efforts with close-ended questions and numbers brightly highlighted in yellow or red.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Compliance is, ideally, a participatory function.
For those starting out, the qordata team would strongly encourage you to engage with finance and sales at the deepest possible levels. Not only will this better inform your own compliance program, but the cross-functional perspective will help you devise better metrics into the analytics.
Question #3: Is Big Pharma The Only Sector That Can Afford Compliance Analytics?
No, though this is one of the most resounding myths surrounding pharma compliance analytics. As we discovered to our own surprise, the formality and structure of Big Pharma can actually decelerate the pace at which analytics programs are introduced or executed.
The fact that Big Pharma often has the financial muscle to develop in-house compliance/analytics programs can mean that such programs lack the cross-pollinating insights of plug-and-play solutions developed by specialized SaaS vendors.
Question #4: True or False? “Lots of data means a robust analytics program.”
False. Especially if you’re just starting out with your compliance program.
“Don’t bite off more than you can chew” is sound advice, coming from no less than Ishita Arora, Manager Compliance at Horizon Pharma and our webinar host earlier this month.
As you probably realize, a prevailing trait of compliance/transparency professionals is that they like to get things right the first time. With small datasets, you’re:
- Less likely to make mistakes
- Identify outliers and irregularities
- Implement corrective action
