This is a guest post from Pat Schaumann, CMP, CSEP, DMCP, HMCC. She is the principal instructor of the HMCC program and MPI's Director of Professional Development, Healthcare Sector.
The healthcare industry is in a constant state of change. Between new regulation and new drugs being approved and released, it’s an exciting time to be in the strategic meetings management planning (SMMP) field. But change can also bring about uncertainty.
What should meeting professionals expect from the new year? And how will the SMMP field change?
While no one can predict the future definitively, here are six potential healthcare SMMP trends for the upcoming year.
1. Mergers Change the Game for SMMP
It’s no secret: the healthcare industry is changing rapidly. According to a recent New York Times article, about $270 billion in mergers and acquisitions took place in the healthcare industry in just the first nine months of 2015.
The competitive nature of the pharmaceutical industry means SMMP providers must prove their usefulness at every opportunity. Third-party meeting companies must be a one-stop-shop for all event needs, including managing speakers, creating content, creative oversight, technology and more.
2. Training and Certification Will Grow in Importance
In 1985, the Convention Industry Council launched the Certified Meeting Professional Program in order to standardize the practice and enhance the knowledge and performance of meeting professionals. And today, the credential is recognized globally as the utmost in meeting industry excellence.
To supplement the specialized needs of healthcare industry meeting professionals, the Convention Industry Council unveiled the CMP-HC (Certified Meeting Professional-Healthcare) in 2014. As a key benchmark for best practices in the meetings industry, it’s an indispensable certification to have.
The first CMP-HC Bootcamp will be held at the Global Pharmaceutical and Medical Meetings Summit in Philadelphia on Feburary 12, 2016.
In the year to come, the CMP-HC will grow in importance, along with the HMCC (Healthcare Meeting Compliance Certificate).
3. Changes in US Open Payments are Coming
The National Physician Payment Transparency Program: Open Payments creates clarity in the industry by articulating financial relationships between medical professionals and healthcare manufacturing companies. And, in the year to come, SMMP providers should expect changes in open payments.
4. Expect Loosened Restrictions on Meeting Venues
SMMP planners know the difficulty of finding the right meeting venue. Many destinations and hotel chains are blacklisted from being a venue for medical meetings. After all, healthcare meetings are under the microscope, and many meetings are barred from using venues or destinations that are too lavish.
In the year to come, it’s likely that regulations will relax on this. Certain locations or hotel chains that were once on the blacklist may come back into perspective for strategic meetings management planners.
5. Meeting Technology’s Role Will Increase
No matter the industry, many meetings and events rely on apps or other mobile technologies to share information quickly, securely and efficiently. And in the healthcare industry, meeting technology will remain key to a successful event.
6. Expect More Meetings
The 21st Century Cures Act, passed in 2015, streamlines clinical trials for new drugs and makes it less challenging and expensive to put them to market. Not only does this open the potential for life-saving drugs to come to your local pharmacy sooner, it creates new opportunities—and challenges—for SMMP.
New medicine means new training is needed, so, in 2016 expect more meetings. The 21st Century Cures Act will likely open the door to more meetings in years to come as well.
Get an even more in-depth look at how healthcare is changing the way you implement your strategic meetings management programs as well as earn one clock hour toward your CMP or CMP-HC certification or re-certification.
