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Ensuring compliance: key steps to take when hosting medical meetings

The sector must adhere to strict compliance requirements, which can not only vary by country and delegate, they are constantly evolving.

By James Smith, Managing Director, SWM Partners

All aspects of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are tightly regulated, and this extends to events in the space.

Hosting meetings for stakeholders involved in a study, from healthcare professionals to participants, therefore requires meticulous planning, research and analysis, in order to ensure they are both informative and compliant.

With this in mind, below are some key considerations to keep in mind when approaching events of this nature.

Address compliance first and foremost

These regulations must be taken into account at the pre-planning stage of any and every meeting in the sector, as they will ultimately inform key elements of the experience.

This includes the venue that is selected (where accredited vendors are essential), delegate accommodation, travel and transportation both to the host location and within it, catering, and any offsite dinners or experiences.

Analyse the attendee data

Keep a watchful eye on registration on an ongoing basis, and pay close attention to details such as delegates’ job function and nationality.

This approach enables planners and hosts to curate meeting experiences in a wholly compliant manner well in advance, as peoples’ role, employer and/or home countries are subject to different regulations.

Ultimately, it means that individuals or sub-groups of healthcare professionals attending the same event will require experiences that are tailored to them, based on the relevant compliance requirements at play.

At the same time, it’s important to design event experiences that ensure all are able to take part in educational opportunities, and have the chance to connect with their colleagues. Ultimately, it means that meeting design, personalisation and compliance must go hand in hand.

Remain abreast of evolving regulations

Compliance regulations not only vary by the factors mentioned above, they change often, and an increasing number of countries have developed and implemented these over the last 10 years in particular.

This makes checking, and then double and triple checking them a must ahead of time, to ensure compliance is maintained once attendees head onsite, and throughout the duration of the meeting.

Commit to wholly informative content

The aim of the meeting should always be to educate and inform attendees in wholly accurate and impartial – as opposed to promotional – ways, and this should be evident throughout the agenda or content programme, and any supporting materials.

Ensure the focus remains on the study and product, and aim to feature a variety of delivery styles, such as presentations, panel sessions and Q&As or live quizzes, along with speakers from the host organisation, as well as external to it, such as key opinion leaders, a study’s principal investigators or coordinators, and patients.

This results in a well balanced and open forum for information sharing and discussion, and sees delegates depart with the essential information they require to administer the product in focus.

Look to the support of external bodies

Navigating medical meeting compliance can be challenging, and yet as we have established here, it is incredibly important.

There are therefore several bodies and organisations that are able to provide support in this area, through education, events, and professional certifications.

Examples include:

Another essential is to enlist the support of experienced, certified event management professionals who understand and effectively apply these regulations on a local, regional and global basis, and this is where the SWM Partners team are able to step in to assist.

If you’re interested in learning more about our expertise and approach, you can email us via: hello@swm-partners.com.