IPCAA NEWSLETTER

Presenting details of the strategic plan for 2010, the IPCAA President outlined the IPCAA mission statement as follows:

A number of strategic objectives put forward from Council were communicated and received full support from the General Assembly. These related directly to key IPCAA areas of activity, covering aspects such as task forces, external stakeholder relations, educational activities, provision of value and services to members and the need to explore aspects of congress housing issues.

Task Forces

Reflecting the importance of our task forces as one of the key IPCAA activities and the public “face” of the Association, generous time was allocated in the General Assembly programme for delegates to attend various task force meetings, providing good networking opportunities and a chance to exchange experiences and opinions.

Common formats for both administrative documentation and processes as well as for reporting on strategic objectives and achievements were presented by Martin Jensen. Head of the Neuroscience task force, he has worked with former IPCAA President Kurt Nagel, to set up and drive the “task force facilitation project”, aimed at ensuring all IPCAA task forces are best equipped to manage interactions and negotiations with their medical society counterparts, congress organisers and others.

During these sessions, task forces worked on their individual strategic plans for 2010, identifying any problem areas and (inter)actions which are indicated with other parties.

External Speakers at the IPCAA General Assembly

Three external presentation sessions were included in the programme for the IPCAA General Assembly – all were very well received by delegates who felt them to be highly appropriate to the current environment.

Technology for virtual meetings (presentation by Stream57, New York)

The speaker representing Stream57 was introduced by Mike Brill of Merck, who has experience of working with this organisation and who did a great deal to facilitate its participation at the meeting.

Ben Chodor, President of the company, started with a brief overview of the organisation and its (recently implemented) global reach. Around 65% of the company's business is in the healthcare industry, so it feels highly conversant with the needs of this sector and offers corresponding solutions. There has recently been huge growth in the extent and value invested in streaming media and webcasting and very significant development in the business is expected to continue into the future.

Regularly using an electronic voting facility during the presentation, Chodor created a good level of interaction and questioning.

From a starting point which acknowledged that the new “virtual” technologies must be regarded as complementary to traditional forms of communication, the presentation went on to explore various techniques for enhancing traditional events such as congresses, expert meetings etc.

Covering topics such as “Steps to effective webcasting”, “Benefits of virtual meetings”, “Webbased training programmes” and using case studies from the pharmaceutical industry, the presentation captured participants' imagination and was followed by a lively Q+A session. Interestingly, the speaker commented that these virtual activities are currently easier to organise in Europe rather than the USA.

A further interesting point to come out of the discussion was Chodor's strong conviction of the need to rehearse and train virtual speakers to present or discuss in front of cameras for sessions to be broadcast via Internet.

Commenting on this session, Anna Frick felt that the possibilities created by new technologies offer additional creative and complementary opportunities for conference departments and marketing teams; but that the incorporation of such extra features will of course also need correct organisation and project management, such as IPCAA members and colleagues already have to practise at present.

HCEA and the Future of Exhibits

Eric Allen, Executive Vice President of HCEA, presented details on the history, structure and aims of the Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association, one of IPCAA's partners in the Healthcare Congress Alliance. HCEA celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, having started modestly in 1930, as “The Medical Exhibitors Association”, the name HCEA only having been adopted in 1973.

HCEA's range of activities was explained – covering subjects such as convention marketing effectiveness, compliance issues, physician feedback on exhibits, CME, congress housing plus best practice in exhibit management and emerging technologies. All of which serve as a reminder of the benefit for HCEA and IPCAA to continue to share a close relationship, with so many issues in common.

He also touched on recent activities including research and surveys undertaken. Of particular interest were data comparing US and international professional attendance at healthcare meetings over a twelve year period. It appears from these data, that after an approximate 4 year slump in meeting activity around the turn of the century, attendance, particularly international, is now up again and increasing beyond previous levels.

Jeremy Williams, CEO of Photosound, together with Eric Allen, gave a very interesting presentation entitled “The Future of the Healthcare Exhibit Hall” based on research undertaken by HCEA and subsequent models developed by Photosound.

Using a focus group of American healthcare professionals of differing age groups and with varying levels of clinical experience, their views and reactions to exhibits and exhibit areas at medical congresses were recorded and analysed. Based on its interpretation of the survey results, Photosound put together suggestions of aspects which might need to be considered from such exhibit visitors' viewpoints and the possible impact on aspects such as layout and design concepts for companies' exhibits and even exhibition halls in the years ahead.

A futuristic exhibit design concept (shown here) caused considerable interest and generated much discussion. The feedback from the focus group raised the question as to whether it would be of interest to undertake a similar survey in the future among European healthcare professionals.

CME in the USA and implications for ROW

Terry Dex and Hilary Schmidt, both from the Department of Independent Medical Education of sanofi-aventis USA, presented a thorough overview of the recent and current situation concerning CME in the USA. Trends were discussed, including the continuing impact of tightening up of industry codes (e.g. PhRMA).

The debate surrounding industry involvement in CME activities continues to be a hot one in the USA, and corporate investment in this area has recently reduced, but the general consensus of the meeting was, that while there may be future changes to aspects of CME/CPD in the European area and elsewhere, it is unlikely that the present USA route will be followed in other regions.

Increasing use of the Internet as a vehicle for medical education is certainly a tendency outside the USA as well, and is now recognised in Europe, although according to different criteria.

It came as no surprise to all present, that as in all interactions today between industry and healthcare professionals, increasing transparency is a “given”.

Thanking the speakers Sylvia Fondanèche, IPCAA Vice President said, “This session was of great use to IPCAA members, especially those from outside the USA. It helps to put things into perspective and realise that we need to keep monitoring trends and developments in all areas.”

IPCAA Housing Forum

Sylvia Fondanèche, IPCAA Vice President, leader of the Housing Group, reviewed the activity on the IPCAA Housing Forum which took place in Berlin last October.

“The first meeting of the Housing Forum was seen as an unqualified success...” said Fondanèche, “... the discussions with representatives from the hotel industry not only confirmed some of our own previous thinking, but provided new insights on which we hope to be able to follow up with other parties involved in congress accommodation aspects.”

A number of topics were raised by the members of the IPCAA Housing Group. They related to process and contractual issues arising from members' experiences in arranging housing reservations connected with major international medical meetings.

In open and frank group discussion, the exchange of views and information demonstrated clearly that despite evidence of growing awareness of constraints, the pharmaceutical industry should continue to inform and educate third parties on healthcare compliance issues and acquaint them with pertinent details of industry codes. Equally the importance of pharmaceutical industry as a customer of the hotel industry was confirmed.

Based on this meeting and the comprehensive interchange which took place, it is apparent that more transparency should be created in terms of the processes which are used, the way certain conditions are set and why, and the exact roles played by all parties in housing transactions. This is certainly the goal of the IPCCA group and will be further explored on the occasion of the next IPCAA Housing Forum event, scheduled for April 2010, where it is hoped we will actively engage on the topic with various medical societies.

From the ensuing discussion, it was clear that this housing initiative is highly supported and appreciated by all IPCAA members.