The Suit Magazine

In the near future, manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and biologics will be required to begin tracking and recording payments to physicians that are worth more than $10. This mandate is part of the Physicians Payments Sunshine Act, which goes into effect January 2012. The details for each prescriber will be posted in a searchable public database starting April 2013.

“All pharmaceutical and biotech companies will be required to report their transfers of value to health care prescribers,” said Joan Bradley, president and CEO of The JB Ashtin Group in Plymouth, Mich. “And what that means is that spending per physician has to be reported for every educational and promotional initiative that the pharmaceutical industry undertakes with them. It's a federal law.”

The Sunshine Act represents both a challenge and an opportunity for Bradley, a pharmacist herself, whose scientific communications agency helps pharmaceutical and biotech companies create awareness about their products. “The challenge is getting our clients to understand how stricter federal regulations are going to impact their business,” she said. “Industry professionals who are involved in compliance issues understand the tightened regulations, but I don’t believe that information has filtered down to the people in the trenches—especially the promotional brand teams and the sales force. They may not yet truly understand how The Sunshine Act will impact the way they do business. It’s more than just reporting advisor fees for service.”

As a health care communications expert, Bradley is accustomed to disseminating complicated information to a range of audiences, including heath care providers and the public. Her firm is often hired to engage global groups of physicians, researchers, allied health professionals and other client partners to collaborate on designing better clinical trials and educational opportunities surrounding various disease states and investigational products or devices. “It is important for the pharma and biotech industries to work closely with the health care community to better understand how research and education about new medications can improve patient care,” Bradley said. Most of these types of engagements occur in the form of advisory board and investigator meetings. Often times, multiple meetings are needed to engage physicians in various national and international regions.

But live pharma-sponsored meetings are becoming less common. The market downturn and increased regulatory scrutiny have forced many of JB Ashtin’s clients to reduce the number of live meetings conducted with health care providers. So she uses technology to translate this market downturn into a business opportunity. “We created some new partnerships with technology companies that allow us to conduct interactive meetings on a virtual platform,” she explained. “By working with a platform created by our technical partner, Within3 of Cleveland, we are able to generate discussion and gather the required feedback from thought leaders without the excess costs of travel, lodging and meals. Costs are reduced for the sponsoring pharmaceutical company, health care providers have more time in the office taking care of patients and there are fewer transfers of value that have to be reported.”

The virtual approach to physician interactions is just one more example of how the team at JB Ashtin affects fundamental change. By facilitating the transparency and improving the efficiency of interactions within the pharmaceutical industry, Bradley is ultimately making our health care system more efficient for its end users: the American public.


The JB Ashtin Group, Inc.
47075 Five Mile Road
Plymouth, MI 48170-3589
Main: 734 459 3144
Fax: 734 459 3806

Joan K. Bradley, PharmD
President/CEO
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.jbashtin.com

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