Press Release
TGaS Advisors “Snapshot” of Commercial Operations Shows Concern for Gaps in Execution and Monitoring
East Norriton, Penn., January 20, 2010 – An on-the-spot benchmark of pharmaceutical commercial compliance professionals attending the recent PHARMA Congress Forum in Washington, D.C., produced a snapshot of practices regarding speakers, anti-kickback, HCP contracts and off-label messaging. Key findings of the mini-benchmark, conducted by TGaS® Advisors, a leading benchmarking and advisory services firm serving pharmaceutical commercial operations, showed that companies are attentive to compliance but that gaps in execution and monitoring remain. Representatives of seven pharma companies participated in the benchmark.
- Speaker Programs: While all respondents said their companies ensure a speaker’s legitimacy through internal review, only 67% document and publish the criteria determining the necessity and legitimacy of a speaker.
- Anti-kickback: 80% of the companies surveyed reported monitoring contracts that might have anti-kickback implications. Of these, half assign responsibility and accountability for contract approval to Legal with the remaining half assigned to either Management, Marketing, Contracting or a third party.
- Message Auditing: 90% of the companies in the mini-benchmark state their sales representatives’ messaging is audited, primarily by District Managers during ride-alongs, which average 425 per quarter. Respondents report that instances of off-label promotion end in the sales rep’s termination.
- Call Plan Review: Only 25% of the companies that participated in the mini-benchmark review their Call Plans for potential risk of off-label promotion.
TGaS Advisors is currently conducting a full Commercial Compliance benchmark designed to provide participating companies with a detailed, confidential report on how their peers manage compliance and where they can optimize their own operations. “The benchmark will alert companies to areas they need to monitor more closely and elicit best practices, particularly important in today’s shifting regulatory environment,” said Kevin Sharp, Director and Management Advisor of the firm’s Commercial Compliance Practice.
About TGaS® Advisors
TGaS Advisors, ranked in the top 50 among U.S. Business Products & Services companies by the Inc. 500, is the leader in benchmarking and advisory services to the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry. The TGaS Advisors roster includes the top 10 and the majority of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies with operations in the U.S. market. The firm’s benchmarking and advisory services suite of solutions, PharmaStance®, provides clients with a way to measure where they stand with respect to their organizations and answers the question, “How do other pharmaceutical companies do ‘it’?”® TGaS Advisors is based in East Norriton, Pennsylvania.
- Other 2010:
- TGaS Advisors Promotes Carro to Principal, Appoints Kain and Sharp to Lead Marketing Sciences Operations and Compliance Solutions
- PDMA Sampling Compliance a Growing Issue for Pharma Marketers
- KnowledgePoint360 acquires TGaS Advisors
- TGaS Advisors President Urges Commercial Operations Executives to “Think Like CEOs” in Keynote Presentation for ZS Associates Pharmaceutical Operations Conference
- Commercial Operations Leaders Envision a “Rubik’’s® Cube” of Approach to the New Commercial Landscape at TGaS Advisors Summit
- TGaS Advisors Named To Philadelphia 100, Region’s Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies
- TGaS Advisors Named to Inc. 5000; Among Top 20 in Philadelphia Area
- Managed Markets Marketing Leaders Debate Channel Strategy, Healthcare Reform, Career Issues at TGaS Advisors Summit
- TGaS Advisors Launches Three New Pharmaceutical Benchmark Options: Best of Benchmark, Efficiency Benchmark and Strategic Priorities Benchmark
- New Commercial Models, Healthcare Reform, Cross-Organizational Talent Needs Pose Challenges for Pharma Operations Execs at TGas Advisors’ Leadership Summit
- TGaS Advisors Offers Proxy Measures, Best Practices in Digital Marketing Metrics at PMSA Conference
- Solving Managed Markets Staffing Dilemma: New Account Manager Sizing Model
- Pharma Executives Bullish on Companies, Industry for 2010: TGaS Advisors 2010 Confidence Index
- “What’s Your DMI?” TGaS Advisors Launches the First and Only One-Number Digital Marketing Measure
- TGaS Advisors’ Mercante Speaks on New Data Sources in the Digital Age, New Competitve Strategies for the Pharmaceutical Industry