Nine months after the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) November 2020  Special Fraud Alert: Speaker Programs was published, on August 6, 2021,  PhRMA  issued a  statement  addressing an update to the PhRMA Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals. Effective January 1, 2022, PhRMA updated its principles relating to company-sponsored speaker programs and clarified other provisions of the PhRMA Code.

The OIG’s Special Fraud Alert raised concerns towards some characteristics of speaker programs that may be considered risky. These programs, however, are necessary to educate healthcare professionals (HCPs) through Peer-to-Peer (P2P) educational strategies. When conducting P2P speaker programs, you can avoid some of the risks flagged by the OIG, and ensure that you are able to conduct successful educational programs. This page contains various resources to help you address your P2P marketing strategies going forward.

Peer to Peer (P2P) education brings tremendous value to Healthcare Professionals (HCPs). By providing the opportunity to learn live, virtually, or on demand, this strategy offers a flexibility unmatched by any other healthcare communications strategy. P2P educational formats allow clinicians to engage in meaningful conversations with experts regarding products that can improve the lives of their patients. P2P strategies are essential for collaboration and learning within the healthcare industry.

So much has happened in the last few months in our industry especially in light of the OIG’s Special Fraud Alert on Speaker Programs that was issued toward the end of the year. I want to really get into some of those nuts and bolts, talk about what the OIG is telling us with their guidance, how it might affect you, and what you can do to take control for your brand and your organization.

When attending speaker programs, I’m fascinated with the various adult learning principles incorporated by speakers which focus on attendee engagement and behavioral change. Too often, however, there is little more than a slide deck and a didactic presentation that is reviewed by the speaker. There typically isn’t anything else in a presentation to reinforce the information discussed and to ensure retention and understanding among the audience. Usually, a speaker simply reads from the slides like a script while their audience is following along at the same time. They tend to present the data, rather than make it memorable and useful beyond the presentation.