Healthcare Meeting Compliance Certificate (HMCC)

Did you know that you can see how much a doctor is being financially supported by pharmaceutical companies because of the National Physicians Payment Transparency program (Open Payments)?  You can go to a website here and type in your doctors name to learn more.  While this is a great thing for consumers, it makes meeting planners jobs a lot more complex when it comes to working with the healthcare industries.

At the Summit one of my markets is Pharmaceutical companies.  Working with AbbVie I have found that there was a lot more I needed to learn about how healthcare regulations. I wanted to understand all of the terms that they use in their complex reporting and how I can make my clients jobs easier in the process.

Meeting Professionals International offers a Healthcare Meeting Compliance Certificate (HMCC) which is a compliment to the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Certification for $500.  The HMCC program provides you with the knowledge and experience to successfully navigate the increasingly complex pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device regulatory environment. A broad range of healthcare topics including cross-border healthcare compliance, industry trends, global regulations, and compliance, codes, laws and mandates are covered.

There are 5 modules to the HMCC.  I have listed the modules below and some facts that I found interesting.

HMCC Module 1: HMCC Overview

An overview of how to comply with US-based Open Payments and international healthcare meeting compliance reporting.

• Meeting planners roll  is to manage, collect expenses, report spend and provide supporting documentation of any transfer of value to physicians.
• Open Payments requires applicable manufacturers to disclose to the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) any exchange of payments or transfer of value to physicians or teaching hospitals. This promotes transparency by publishing financial relationship and a public website to access. Minnesota and Connecticut also report nurse practitioner’s.
• Not everything is reported such as items under $10.22 unless combined with others is over $102.19, educational materials, discounts, samples, etc.
• Every February manufacturers have to submit a report to the Security of Department of Health & Human Services.  The hospitals and physicians can approve the expenses and the data is live on open payments in June.
• 6.5 billion people have been to this website and got information on reporting which
• Mycomplaincewizard is an amazing resource for meeting planners to find out information about different states or countries and their guidelines.

HMCC Module 2: Report Submissions

How and when to file Open Payments reports, timelines and procedures.

• There are 45 days of review and any errors must be submitted within 15 days after that review.
• If you unknowingly fail to report you will be fined between $1,000 to $10,000 and knowingly you will be fined between $10,000 to $100,000. You wouldn’t be liable, your company would.  If you are a third party however you would be liable so you need to understand these laws before taking on Medical meetings.
• There were $9 billion in fines last year alone.

HMCC Module 3: Specifications and Qualifications

How healthcare regulations affect security, food and beverage, audiovisual and other meeting logistics.

• Your responsibility as a planner is to maintain both physical (only your attendees in meeting rooms) and cyber (encrypted Wi-Fi) security.
• If a physician opts out of any meals you need to make sure you are documenting that so it doesn’t get reported.
• There are 1 Million + medical meetings per year.
• Food Caps are the maximum amount of money spent on food per healthcare professional determined by the manufacturer. As a caterer you will want to know the manufacturers food caps to ensure you are creating meals that are within those allotted amounts.

HMCC Module 4: Using Your Knowledge

Test your knowledge with these scenarios.

• If a device is not yet approved by FDA you do not have to report.
• If a competitor is in house you have to immediately contact your legal department.

HMCC Module 5: New Regulations

An overview of the latest regulations and updates affecting healthcare meeting compliance.

• With Trumps position on Affordable Care Act things may change.
• 70% of all Americans take prescribed medications and manufacturers spend more money on marketing than research.  The FDA has finally made laws on social media so that you have to show the risks with the promotion.

If you are a meeting planner or supplier involved in Healthcare Meetings I would highly recommend getting this certification.  There are so many more meetings than there are planners that are qualified to plan medical programs.