Starting January 1, 2013, the Office will treat the distribution of lotions, eye drops, etc. as unlawful.  The OTC exception will only apply to over-the-counter drugs, nonprescription medical devices, and nonprescription durable medical equipment.

Mike Bell, Esq., President and CEO of R-Squared has been asked by Concur to facilitate and present on key issues facing Concur’s Life Science clients.

Concur has gathered some of the leading experts in the Life Sciences legislation and collected relevant data to tell you what you need to know about how the deployment of section 6002 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly known as the Sunshine Act) impacts you. Come ask the experts from Concur, R-Squared and Healthcare Data Solutions and get some of your most pressing questions answered.

The two sessions he will be covering are as follows:

Tuesday, May 8th at 12:45 pm

Sunshine Act – Ask the Experts:

Concur has gathered some of the leading experts in the Life Sciences legislation and collected relevant data to tell you what you need to know about how the deployment of section 6002 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly known as the Sunshine Act) impacts you. Come ask the experts from Concur, R-Squared and Healthcare Data Solutions and get some of your most pressing questions answered.

Wednesday, May 9th at 10:30 AM

Around the Globe: A Compliance Journey

International experts including Mike Bell Esq. will discuss three regulations that involve travel, expense and A/P. They’ll walk you across the ‘compliance globe’ region-by- region and tell you what you really need to know in the evolving landscape.

The session will cover:

1)  Growing international Anti-Bribery and Corruption legislation (FCPA, UK Bribery Act, etc.)

2) How the U.S. Sunshine Act is spilling into EMEA and what you need to do about it, and

3) Duty of Care regulations in APA and around the world, including your obligations as an employer.

Please feel free to engage Mike before and after these sessions if you have additional questions.  This is a great opportunity to learn more about how Concur’s clients can proactively leverage technology to deal with these issues.

Surprise, surprise:  CMS missed its regulatory deadline to promulgate final Sunshine regulations and has announced more delays.  Despite Senators Grassley and Kohl urging CMS to issue a final rule governing the law by June (see letter), so that data collection can begin this year, CMS just announced via a May 3, 2012 blog post that it will issue final Sunshine Act regulations “later this year” and will not require data collection by applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations before January 1, 2013.

This should come as welcome news to the industry, which has had growing concern about the content and timing of the final rules.  One can only hope that with this additional time the agency can rectify many of the shortcomings set forth in the proposed rules.

Concur Connect Platform enables clients to enjoy instant access to comprehensive health care provider data, ensuring accurate and transparent reporting

REDMOND, Wash., March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Concur (Nasdaq: CNQR – News), a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management services, today announced that clients will now have access to enhanced capabilities to support compliance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as the Sunshine Act. By connecting to the T&E Cloud via Concur Connect, leading solution provider R-Squared is now making accurate and standardized health care provider data available to Concur clients to streamline compliance and ensure accurate reporting.

The Sunshine Act requires pharmaceutical, medical device and medical supply companies to track and report all expenses related to marketing to physicians and teaching hospitals. By making accurate and standardized healthcare provider data available to Concur’s T&E Cloud, expenses captured by Concur’s solution can be instantly linked with the appropriate health care provider, ensuring complete transparency in compliance with Sunshine Act requirements. By partnering with these leading providers, Concur is delivering enhanced capabilities for companies requiring Sunshine Act compliance including:

• Real-time access to the most up-to-date listings of providers ensuring sales staff are able to easily access contact records that may not already exist in their company’s master data.
• Access to accurate provider data including names, specialties, addresses and National Provider Identification numbers.
• Tracking and reporting of all expenses associated with a specific health care provider for both state and federal transparency reporting.

“Concur’s T&E Cloud is designed specifically to unlock the hidden value within the travel and expense ecosystem and deliver it directly to our clients,” said Barry Padgett, Executive Vice President of Platform Services at Concur. “Leveraging the Concur Connect Platform, a growing list of providers are enhancing Concur’s travel and expense management offerings with their unique solutions and expertise – extending the value and innovation that Concur’s T&E cloud delivers to all clients.”

The T&E Cloud is unique to Concur – combining industry-leading travel and expense technology, data and third-party innovation to deliver unprecedented value to corporate clients. Concur Connect is the platform that enables the entire travel and expense ecosystem of customers, travel suppliers, content aggregators and solution partners to access and extend the value within Concur’s T&E Cloud – which provides Concur clients with exclusive access to services otherwise unavailable though traditional travel and expense programs.  R-Squared joins a growing list of solution partners that enhance the value of Concur’s solutions.

About Concur

Concur is a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions. Concur’s easy-to-use Web-based and mobile solutions help companies and their employees control costs and save time. Concur Connect is the platform that enables the entire travel and expense ecosystem of customers, suppliers, and solution partners to access and extend Concur’s T&E cloud. Concur’s systems adapt to individual employee preferences and scale to meet the needs of companies from small to large. Learn more at www.concur.com.

About R-Squared

R-Squared Services & Solutions, Inc. (R-Squared) is software group that helps companies develop more efficient and effective ways to assure compliance with the web of regulations and laws affecting the organization. We are especially good at translating regulatory requirements into workable tools and practices that simplify the task of abiding by regulations — while generating solid evidence of compliance at the same time. We’re about tighter compliance, with fewer burdens.  R-Squared is uniquely qualified to provide these services because of the vast depth of internal subject matter expertise starting with its CEO, Mike Bell, Esq. and it’s team of health care attorney’s and former compliance officers actively involved in the functional development of the entire suite of compliance solutions.

Princeton, NJ (February 7, 2012) – R-Squared Services & Solutions, an industry leader in evidence-based compliance solutions, is pleased to announce its partnership with Concur®, the leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions.  This strategic alliance merges R-Squared’s SpendTracker® module with Concur’s expense reporting solution via the Concur Connect Platform, resulting in the optimal solution to streamline and facilitate compliance with the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act requirements, and the growing body of transparency disclosure laws, which are known as “aggregate spend” reporting laws.

The seamless and real-time integration of SpendTracker and Concur will reduce the amount of time spent by sales representatives and others entering the needed data for compliance.  Users will have the ability to search their master data of physicians and other health care professionals (HCPs) stored in SpendTracker directly through the Concur interface, minimizing hassle and the risk of incorrect HCP selection.  Similarly, sales reps will be able to initiate a review and approval process for the addition of HCPs and other third parties through Concur, saving time and minimizing effort.

“Aggregate spend compliance is about to get a whole lot easier for Concur customers”

“Aggregate spend compliance is about to get a whole lot easier for Concur customers,” said Barry Padgett, EVP, Concur Connect Platform.  “Concur’s integration with SpendTracker will allow our customers to exchange important data in real time through Concur, offering simplicity and efficiency, which is exactly what our customers want.”

“An effective solution is one that enhances compliance and minimizes administrative burden, and this does just that,” said Michael Bell, CEO of R-Squared.  “The connected solution reduces the burden on sales reps while increasing data accuracy, making it a true win-win for both compliance and the business.”

About R-Squared

R-Squared Services & Solutions, Inc. (R-Squared) is software group that helps companies develop more efficient and effective ways to assure compliance with the web of regulations and laws affecting the organization. We are especially good at translating regulatory requirements into workable tools and practices that simplify the task of abiding by regulations — while generating solid evidence of compliance at the same time. We’re about tighter compliance, with fewer burdens.  R-Squared is uniquely qualified to provide these services because of the vast depth of internal subject matter expertise starting with its CEO, Mike Bell, Esq. and it’s team of health care attorney’s and former compliance officers actively involved in the functional development of the entire suite of compliance solutions. 

About Concur 

Concur is a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions.  Concur Connect is the platform that enables the entire travel and expense ecosystem of customers, suppliers, and developers to access and extend Concur’s T&E cloud.  Concur’s easy-to-use Web-based and mobile solutions help companies and their employees control costs and save time. Concur’s systems adapt to individual employee preferences and scale to meet the needs of companies from small to large. Visit www.concur.com to learn more.

The Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers (PAMS) hosts regular Webinars on a variety of topics that impact their members.  On April 25, 2012, 1PM ET, Michael Bell, Esq. and CEO of R-Squared will lead a Manufacturers Compliance Webinar entitled: “Understanding Sunshine Act Compliance.”

With all the uncertainty of how this law applies to medical device / medical equipment manufacturers, this 90 minute session is a must for anyone struggling with how to manage to these regulations.

Click here for a program brochure or visit the PAMS website at www.pamsonline.org.

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