How Should Medical Device Technology Companies Prepare For Sunshine Act Rules?
How much is the Physician Payment Sunshine Act going to add to the cost of meeting reporting requirements? Probably a lot more than most medical device technology companies realize, according to a recent article on the Mass Device website.
Jonathan Kellerman, compliance and risk assessment manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, believes the ?make-it-or-break-it? variable that will determine how well each company handles the costs is its data management system. More mature, consistent and high-quality systems will have an easier time reporting to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
It might be easier for smaller companies to comply with the new regulations simply because they have less data to report, but the bottom line is that the edge will go to those that embrace technology and use a CRM system to streamline the process
The new reporting requirements were released in February. As the article explains, ?the measure requires companies to track all interactions with physicians and start reporting the data to CMS by March 31, 2014.?
Specifically, any medical device technology company that interacts directly with a physician will be required to report expenses over $10 spent on that physician. That includes royalties, consulting fees and research fees. This mean there is even more information that companies now must collect. For example, if you buy a physician breakfast that costs more than $10, you?ll have to record that physician?s name, where you spent the money, when the meeting occurred and the reason for that interaction.
Many companies don?t have technology in place to record this type of information. While this can be done manually, using a CRM system is much more efficient. A CRM system can track physician information and record where and when expenses were incurred each day.
Article originally posted on our CRM for Medical Device Organizations website.