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MediSpend: Enabling Life Sciences Companies to Manage High-Risk Business Functions for Compliance

MediSpend has introduced the industry’s first global SaaS solution purpose-built to manage the end-to-end process of healthcare professional (HCP) engagement through transparency reporting, which includes software that facilitates external grant requests for the life sciences industry. Presently, more than 100 pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and dental companies in 96 countries around the world rely on MediSpend to manage high-risk business functions for compliance.

JOURNEY SINCE THE INCEPTION

When the company was founded, it was in reaction to new laws that required life sciences companies to do a type of regulatory reporting they hadn’t done before. The Physician Payments Sunshine Act (PPSA) is a law that was passed under the Affordable Care Act in 2011, and it requires that certain manufacturers of drugs and devices and certain group purchasing organizations report payments and transfers of value to HCPs to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) once a year. Today, more than 40 countries around the world have similar transparency reporting requirements.

MediSpend sought to provide a platform to support this new business need that allowed companies with high business and compliance risks to manage those risks in an automated, integrated way. The platform allows them to take manual, disparate processes and data and bring it together in a way that provides a level of integrity and compliance oversight that’s important for life science businesses.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

As compliance requirements around the globe continue to expand, so has MediSpend’s Global Compliance Suite of solutions. The MediSpend Global Compliance Suite consists of a modular suite of SaaS-based solutions: Engagement Manager, Transparency Solution, Grants Manager, Study Manager and Insights, which showcases their analytical capabilities via embedded dashboard reporting and self-service analytics. Although these offerings can be utilized separately, together they represent a unified, end-to-end solution specifically designed to enable life sciences companies to manage high-risk business functions for compliance.

Engagement Manager is a global compliance solution with embedded compliance controls designed to identify and mitigate risk associated with HCP engagements. Engagement Manager will help your organization manage the end-to-end engagement lifecycle on a SaaS-based platform.
Transparency Solution collects, remediates, validates, analyzes and reports transfers of value to comply with state, federal and global transparency laws and codes.
Grants Manager manages internal and external funding and product requests through a secure portal ensuring seamless communication, the ability to track and report out on the workflow and a more effective and efficient process.
Study Manager is a compliance solution designed for non-pharmaceutical company researchers to request, track and manage investigator-initiated clinical studies-trials (IIS/IIT).
Insights delivers meaningful dashboards and powerful ad-hoc reporting capabilities to track and analyze the spend lifecycle, perform competitive analysis and monitor your compliance program in real-time. Life science companies are now provided with the analytics they need to predict issues before they occur.

MediSpend enables life sciences companies to manage
high-risk business functions for compliance

THE GUIDING FORCE

Craig Hauben is the CEO of MediSpend and he holds over 25 years of experience in healthcare industry operations and sales management. Craig leverages his expertise in operations and sales to help MediSpend maximize its brand to expand its offerings and remain a leading global compliance technology company for the life sciences industry.

Craig’s vision has been critical. In a very short period, he has been able to survey the market, diagnose product strengths and create a long-term roadmap for a product suite that is unique in the industry. The entire team is energized around this vision and the journey they are on.

Craig has also brought strong judgment and decisiveness to the organization. The COVID-19 pandemic has tested MediSpend like it has tested many companies. Craig took quick action to ensure the long-term strength of the company. While their business is returning to ‘normal’, they are stronger today than they were pre-COVID.

A GLIMPSE OF CURRENT SCENARIO

During this unpredictable year, life sciences companies have demanded reliability from the solutions they utilize. MediSpend aims to make compliance simple and reliable; giving life sciences companies one less thing to stress about.

Life sciences companies require innovative, intuitive and easy-to-use software solutions to meet their
needs. They require that any software solution, and especially SaaS-based ones, are developed to meet the vast majority of their functional needs out of the box before they will be willing to use it. They prefer more configurations and less customization. Furthermore, they also want to make sure that third-party SaaS solutions meet stringent data privacy and security protocols, and that the organization that is providing the solution has the subject matter expertise needed to support their complex needs.

Therefore, MediSpend had to first establish trust and credibility with executives at life sciences companies, while also demonstrating innovative technology that was purpose-built to meet their needs now and can scale to meet future needs. MediSpend accomplished this and is now proud to be considered the compliance system of record for more than 100 life sciences companies around the world.

THE SECRET BEHIND THE SUCCESS

Craig Hauben shared, “Our strategy here starts with keeping our focus on making our clients successful, not what our competition is saying and doing. By focusing on what our clients need and want, we stay in tune with the broader needs of the market and can stay ahead of our competition. We lead with our team of industry experts. They advise companies who are preparing to launch their first product all the way to complex, global organizations that are industry leaders.”

The MediSpend Global Compliance Suite was purpose-built with the end-user in mind. It delivers a simplified user interface and has often been cited as more intuitive than competitive offerings. Modern technology developments and intuitive user interface aids in quick user adoption and continuous engagement with the platform.

Focused on what clients need, the MediSpend team developed their Legislative Watch, which provides free summaries of global reporting requirements.

MediSpend’s Client Services team provides full-service access and solutions to address client needs during the reporting session and throughout the year. Through monthly meetings with clients, the MediSpend Client Services team consistently receives high ratings from their clients.

NOTABLE FEEDBACK FROM CLIENTS

MediSpend’s clients report a 97% overall satisfaction rate and 94% product satisfaction rate. 90% of MediSpend’s 100+ clients are willing to be client references.

THE FUTURE AHEAD

“We continue to focus on using technology to simplify our client’s lives and enable our client’s greater ability to manage high-risk business functions for compliance. In the near future, we will bring new capabilities to the market that broaden our platform and provide greater integration. An example of this is the latest launch of our Grants Management Solution. More new launches are being planned,” said Hauben.

mYngle: Going Beyond The Realm Of Traditional Education With Digital Learning

mYngle is a globally established, unique platform offering online language education with personalized course plans. It is focused on innovating the traditional world of education by delivering a truly customer oriented solution. mYngle, under the leadership of Marina Tognetti- founder, has been offering Effective learning process incorporating industry topics & building employees’ skills since inception.

When mYngle was started, it was a pioneer in live online language education, amongst the first to provide one-to-one teaching of all languages over the internet. The platform offers customized language training programs through video conferencing in 45 different languages anytime, anywhere. Here, lessons are one-on-one, with highly qualified native coaches and related to the job-position of the learner. The virtual classrooms enable learners to take classes 24/7.

mYngle is the perfect solution for busy professionals who need language training to be successful in their international business, and for Companies that want great learning results and a transparent and controllable learning process to make their investment a success.

More About the Leading Lady

Marina Tognetti is a tech entrepreneur, founder of mYngle.com. She like challenges, in everything she does. She also believes that entrepreneurship, especially in tech, allows us to look far ahead, innovate, change traditional business models, and disrupt industries.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world. This probably best summarizes my vision of leadership as well as of my outlook in life. That is also why I choose entrepreneurship, even if later in my career, as it allows me to really make a difference,” asserted Marina.

The passion for entrepreneurship came later on in Marina’s career. She built first a successful career by large multinationals, Procter & Gamble, Philips, Sara Lee, The Boston Consulting Group, and eBay; living and working in different countries, and got an MBA from INSEAD.

It was when working as a consultant on a project on internet strategy that she first saw the potential of the internet to disrupt entire industries and change forever the way people buy/sell/interact. She had to be part of that! That was the driver to start an innovative company as mYngle.

Hurdles On The Way

Marina said, “The main challenges were not at the beginning, but were when we had to ‘pivot’ from the initial business model to a completely different one. We had launched mYngle as a marketplace, something I knew very well from my previous eBay experience. We thought we got it all: funding, lots of Awards and PR, a very motivated team. But something in the business model was not functioning as we expected. We listened to our customers and they gave us the new direction, and they gave us the new direction, from an open marketplace to a quality global online school, from B2C to B2B. That is the mYngle that you see now.”

Marina’s biggest lesson here was that “Change is an essential part of being an entrepreneur.” That was the key to the success of mYngle. Success as an entrepreneur in fact is not a straight line. The truth is that in most cases, what you start out to do will not be what you’re doing when you are ultimately successful. You’ll discover that things you expected to work well don’t work at all. You’ll stumble into things that you didn’t expect to work that will. You’ll have to be able to adapt. It is how you deal with uncertainty and change that sets you apart.

“Entrepreneurship is jumping from a cliff and learning how to fly at the same time.”

Achievements and Rewards

Building a business from scratch is always challenging, building a tech start-up disrupting an industry as traditional as that of education, is exponentially more challenging. There are all sorts of resistances of an immature market you have to bypass: from the stereotypes consumers have in their minds to the (conservative) opinions of people. Now, online language education is setting the standards in terms of quality and flexibility. And mYngle has been part of that.

For these reasons, mYngle has also won numerous awards as recognition for its contributions to online education. Immediately at the start (2008): Accenture Innovation Award, European Ventures Summit Award, Benelux Venture Summit Award, and more later on. Besides, Marina Tognetti received numerous awards as founder and CEO of Myngle, such as 50 most inspiring women tech leaders in Europe, 50 most inspiring women in the Dutch technology sector, Iconic Women Creating a Better World for All, and many others.

Leadership and Innovation

This is an era of fast and drastic changes- technology, the volatility of the market, talent development. This affects the role of a modern leader, which must be able not only to adapt but also to anticipate and ride the positive trends.

The characteristics of a good leader nowadays are therefore similar to that of an innovative entrepreneur. A leader must have a strong Vision, to set the direction and anticipate and navigate challenges. This also means being able to ‘Think out of the box’, adapt and change to keep the business successful. A leader must not be afraid of taking (calculated) risks in order to anticipate trends and steer the company also in turbulent waters. Last, but not least, must be able to build an organization that is also agile. That requires developing people that think and not only do ‘’jobs’’, employees that are entrepreneurs, fostering a culture of experimentation.

The future ahead, professionally and personally

“It is in my nature to want to constantly improve, and it is in the nature of an entrepreneur to always seek new opportunities or areas of development. The future for mYngle will surely hold new challenges, as we keep on innovating and being ahead of the market,” Marina proudly shared.

“I also have a strong idealistic part. I believe each of us can make a difference. So, for me personally, it will also be time to let the idealistic voice inside speak. I walked this path and learned a lot. That brought me in a privileged position, where I can implement new ideas that can make a difference. I can now use my skills to make the world just a little bit better,” she further added.

GRAHAM BRIGHT, AN ACCOMPLISHED BUSINESS LEADER, BRINGING A TIDE OF CHANGE IN GLOBAL TRADE

Euro Exim Bank Ltd. is one of the renowned and top-notch financial institutions, established in 2015. It serves clients and businesses involved in cross-border transactions with a range of financial instruments and specialised services.

Euro Exim Bank is a prominent institution with a ‘Class A’ international banking license from Financial Services Regulatory Authority of St. Lucia and a member of the Caribbean Association of Banks. The firm aims to be a trusted partner, connecting businesses to new opportunities and empowering them to thrive in today’s competitive world under the dynamic leadership of Graham Bright. Mr Graham is a dignified and excellent administrator and initiator of various innovative ideas. He has gained global recognition in the illustrious Business Worldwide Magazine (BWM) Awards program, for his client-focused disruptive approach to global trade finance.

THE BACK STORY

Graham studied Business and Law at University and then worked in a US partner company of Unilever specializing in computer time sharing applications. Three years at Control Data in credit analysis applications, banking and treasury systems was followed by 20 years at SWIFT in sales and partner solutions, culminating with working with application vendors and market infrastructures such as The Bank of England on RTGS projects.

Subsequently, he was MD at the technology subsidiary of a French Bank for 5 years, EMEA SME on Investment Management and international banking at EMC, and after a period of consulting, joined Euro Exim Bank in 2015.

At EEB, Graham’s primary role is to keep the bank safe by negating and mitigating risk in the bank’s processes, software and client activity. The role involves meeting with clients, regulators, applying local, national and international rules, mandates and recommendations. He also engages with the Board and IT in reviewing KYC, AML, due diligence, KYE software.

It does not pay to be too specialist these days and EEB are not just a trade finance bank. EEB is also a wholesale banking organisation (i.e. without high street retail outlets), specifically working with clients in key trade locations through web and mobile transactions.

SERVICE PORTFOLIO

Values like trust, leadership, experience, personal relationships, country expertise, speed of response, cost-effective instruments and above all continued contact and information sharing make Euro Exim Bank stand out in the market. Here is the list of services offered by the bank:

Financial instruments facilitate trade for Importers – such as Letters of Credit and Standby Letters of Credit providing rapid processing of digitalised documentation with minimum time on paperwork.
Bank Guarantees – for those who need a guarantee to bid and win big-budget tenders, EEB is authorized to issue Bid Bonds, Tender Guarantees and Retention Guarantees.
Advance Payment Guarantee and Performance Bank Guarantees – For exporters who need specific instruments to guarantee trades.
Online Bank Accounts – With 24×7 availability, providing safe banking facilities.
Merchant Bank Accounts – For buyers and sellers who operate across the globe, the facility accepts online payments, using any type of card, with low rates, safe and secure transactions.

HURDLES ON THE WAY

Today, there are more challenges today than ever. With ever-changing Government advice on health matters, industry decimated by lockdown and lack of on-site staff, hopes of rebuilding an economy ravaged by potential unemployment, businesses have never before had to be so constructive, intelligent and agile in order to survive. And this is not just a UK or European issue, as all countries are affected, with many familiar business names already a fleeting memory.

LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES

First, listening and asking people about their views. Nobody knows everything even though many people think they do! The art of leadership is very much about gathering thoughts and ideas, testing theories, getting consensus, and creating a logical strategic plan with goals, milestones and tangible reachable yet ambitious targets.

Secondly, leadership is about ensuring staff members are not only happy in their roles but that they contribute to the success of the business. They work with a company, not for a company, are proud to be in the team, and are given challenging objectives. The management team also helps them achieve them, with a solid foundation of training, assistance in their daily roles, providing expertise in unusual situations, and all the materials necessary to do their jobs and enable success.

Thirdly, espousing honesty and trust. The trade industry with its complex ecosystem of diverse players is a prime target for fraudulent instruments, theft of cargoes, diverted vessels and blatant cybercrime where scams, fake goods, sanctioned items and untrustworthy people are commonplace. They take extreme measures to vet and protect their staff and their customers, working ethically and morally to ensure people get what they pay for according to tight contractual conditions.

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

“Success for me is creating and working with experienced self-sufficient teams where they are ready and prepared to use the information techniques and lessons I have imparted, allowing them to excel in their sales roles,” stated Graham.

“It is also being recognized as an inspirational leader in trade, ‘most innovative executive’, working for one of the world’s most recognized names in the trade, with new technology and forward-thinking products, and participating in high-level industry conferences on all aspects of the ecosystem,” he added.

LEADERSHIP STYLE & SKILL

Graham Bright shared, “People say I am calm, considerate, a listener and someone who wants all the facts before taking action. At EEB we have a very flat organization, and a ‘can-do ‘attitude towards the business requirements of our clients. Our compliance teams start from a premise of ‘yes’, rather than the time-honoured position of major banks being known for stalling or immediately dismissing transactions with a firm immovable ‘NO’.”

“Small firms today are under immense pressure to find organisations willing to support their bona fide trades without tying up their entire cashflow for months on end. Here, our leadership style is important in that we listen, get the facts, consult with experts, manage expectations, look objectively, assess the risk, adjust the collateral requirements accordingly so that trade can go ahead, even if the rates are higher and the title does not get transferred until full payment is made by clients at the end of the transaction life-cycle,” he further added

“VISION” IN LIFE & THE DRIVING FORCE

Graham’s vision is quite simplistic. Doing the right thing with respect from peers and doing things right. One cannot regret things you have never done, and for him, he tries as much as possible now being over 60 (apparently the new 40) to experience new things.

These have included lessons in order to be proficient, at least in an elementary way in flying a plane, scuba diving, rock wall climbing, skiing, and in his youth singing for two seasons on stage at the English National Opera in London, and the Met in New York (badly). He is also a Justice of the Peace, fulfilling his sense of public duty to ‘support, give back to and safeguard the community.’

INSIGHT INTO FUTURE

Whilst all countries are going through challenging times, Graham and his team have seen a sustained increase in global trade. As a direct response, they have taken the ambitious and long-sighted approach of building their team of national and international agents and partners, where they are now looking at serving over 24 countries and increasing their India sales team towards 200 people by the end of the year.

With their additional services in corporate banking, trade platform, Ripple payments and online services, they are constantly developing their capabilities to serve disadvantaged buyers in challenging jurisdictions, hit by reluctance of banks to finance trades, foreign exchange issues, cost of liquidity and growing trade barriers.

A PIECE OF ADVICE

Building a business takes years, and relies on solid foundations. In the current uncertain economic climate, firms must be realistic in profit and investment outlook, exercise pragmatic management, hire professionals, release the unproductive, listen and learn constantly from peers and competition. Management should understand value and contribution, not just expenditure, and ultimately work out what customers want and keep delivering it.