Data Collection for Federal Sunshine Provisions Delayed Until 2013

On May 3, 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the date to start collecting data for compliance with the Sunshine provisions in the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would be delayed until January 1, 2013. 
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International Attendance Concerns
at U.S. Medical Meetings
EFPIA, Eucomed and other European Regulatory Initiatives May Hit Closer to Home than You Realize

If a significant number of attendees stopped coming to your meetings, how would you react?

Or, better asked, how are you preparing?

Nearly a quarter of attendees at top U.S. medical meetings are international, on average.  While some of these meetings have less than one percent international attendance, other U.S.-based medical meetings have over 60-70 percent of their attendance coming from outside the U.S.  Whether you are a large or small medical meeting, if you plan to maintain your international attendance or grow it, understanding the implications of certain industry codes outside the U.S. can be very valuable in your strategic planning.
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Medical Meeting Quick Search

When you need to find medical meetings quick and easy, try HCEA's new free Medical Meeting Quick Search for past, present and future healthcare events taking place around the world. As a companion to HCEA's online meetings directory at Healthcaremeetings.com, which is available to HCEA Members only, the Quick Search is available for use by everyone to search for basic healthcare meeting information. Learn More »

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Refresh Your Professional Development at HCEA

Take a sneak peek at upcoming education featured at the 2012 HCEA Annual Meeting in Orlando, June 23-26, 2012. Learn More »

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Your Teeth Look Great:
A Peek Inside Dental Meeting Trends

Americans will spend an estimated $109 billion dollars on dental services in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  So, it may not be a surprise that over 90 dental-related conference organizations were reported to HCEA last year. That’s the equivalent of a dental meeting every four days. While the larger economic recession has had an impact on overall dental-related consumer spending, dentists and other dental professionals still actively pursue education and appear to be sustaining attendance at the major dental meetings taking place throughout the U.S.
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Collecting NPI Numbers:  Healthcare Associations are On the Frontline for Exhibitor Compliance with the PPACA

Most healthcare associations do not collect the National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers of their convention attendees, yet disclosure of the NPI number by pharmaceutical and medical device exhibitors is required by the 2010 federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  Being out of compliance can impact decisions about exhibiting and sponsoring, which is why medical associations and their exhibitors are looking for a solution now.

Important to know:

• The Sunshine provisions originated in a stand-alone bill, but were eventually wrapped into the overall PPACA.  The provisions require that healthcare companies disclose gifts and other items they give to physicians.
• One mandate in the Sunshine provisions is that healthcare companies report the NPI numbers of physicians to whom they give items of value.
• Healthcare convention marketers and exhibitors are asking the organizers of healthcare association conventions to provide the NPI numbers of their healthcare professional attendees, yet most healthcare associations are not currently collecting these numbers.
• Because healthcare companies must begin disclosing information on activities starting in 2012, it is critical that healthcare companies and associations work together to create solutions for the collection and reporting of NPI numbers.
• The implementation rules for the Sunshine provisions are expected to be released in October 2011.

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