Cegedim Relationship Management's Latest Report on European Compliance Trends Finds 71% of Respondents Are Developing Regional Standards Across Europe in Anticipation of New Legislation

Cegedim Relationship Management today announced the release of the third annual thought leadership white paper, 2012 European Trends in Aggregate Spend, Transparency and Disclosure, which analyzes insights from European decision makers to provide a holistic view of compliance trends and forecasts. The report outlines Europe’s regulatory influx, which surprisingly, in some countries overshadows US levels; as well as assessments of companies’ current procedures, systems and strategies.

Pan-European Increases in Compliance Law Stimulates Proactive Self-Enforcement Trends

Europe must now observe an increasingly formidable structure of regulations aimed at the Life Sciences industry. Precisely, the UK Bribery Act has recently strengthened its provisions, and the newly enacted Réforme du Médicament in France features reporting requirements that far outshine the US PPACA’s Sunshine Provisions. Motivated by highly-publicized violations, European officials are moving forward on an agenda that will have an effect on commercial operations indefinitely.

Companies are reacting with high levels of self-enforcement. Specifically, most respondents (82%) cited that their companies enforce corporate standards for healthcare practitioner (HCP) spending. Operationally, many respondents have taken measures to prevent non-compliant behavior (46%), are optimizing business processes (43%), and are implementing/building rules (43%). In terms of devoted investments, over half (55%) have already allocated resources for a compliance project team; and 44% already leverage an automated investment/HCP expense pre-approval system. Clearly, European companies are striving for a future of operational compliance.

Vital Drivers for Change on the Road to Operational Compliance

Attaining operational compliance will require navigation of certain pain points. Many find that system/process shortcomings, poor record keeping and data entry errors are affecting their ability to remain compliant. Regarding a specific process challenge, respondents cited that matching/establishing a unique identification to an HCP from all expense data sources is very challenging (36%). Most importantly, these obstacles may result from ineffective reporting mechanisms, since three fourths of respondents (75%) satisfy requirements with internally developed, proprietary software systems (44%) or manually/with spread sheets (31%). The current compliance forecast will necessitate best practices as 73% anticipate forthcoming anti-corruption laws to impact more countries with greater transparency requirements.

"Europe’s enforcement model is no longer relying on companies to self-regulate their operations. Companies are feeling the bite of more stringent regulations,” said Guillaume Roussel, Vice President of Compliance Solutions EMEA, Cegedim Relationship Management. "The report finds companies at a pivotal crossroads in business development regarding operational compliance through value-proven aggregate spend and disclosure systems that can alleviate administrative burdens and new risks.”

To download the full report, 2012 European Trends in Aggregate Spend, Transparency and Disclosure, please click here.

Cegedim Relationship Management is the leading global provider of Life Sciences-specific Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Regulatory Compliance, Healthcare Data and Marketing solutions.