5 Common Mistakes in U.S. Aggregate Spend Reporting and How to Avoid Them

U.S. Federal, State and Local aggregate spend reporting compliance isn’t just a box to check, it’s a high-risk process with real regulatory and financial consequences. When reporting relies too heavily on manual processes, the margin for error grows fast.

Here are five common pitfalls teams face and how compliance reporting automation can help you avoid them from the start.

1. Missing or Incomplete HCP Spend Data Capture

If your field teams must manually capture Healthcare Professional (HCP) license data at time of expense, it greatly increases the risk of manual errors, missing key identifiers and creating duplicate records, requiring an added burden for your compliance team to clean up later.

Fix: Automate HCP license data capture and validation at time of expense via a trusted data partner validation solution to ensure every record is clean, complete and up to date.

2. Disconnected Spend Data Acquisition Sources

Compliance teams often have to patch together spend data capture from a variety of sources including field teams, third-party vendors, distributors and more often leading to a resource strain on data loading and review.

Fix: Leverage an end-to-end aggregate spend reporting platform with built-in data mapping & configurability to optimize data loading from all sources for streamlined data management.

3. Disconnected Spend Data Remediation and Matching Workflows

Manual reconciliation, especially when spend data doesn’t match cleanly with recipient records, creates risk and drains time. Without a consistent remediation process, errors and compliance gaps often go undetected until late in the reporting cycle.

Fix: Use compliance automation to support systematic auto-mapping of data via machine-learning to streamline processing. Apply business rules and compliance checks to catch errors and flag warnings early.

4. Lack of Centralized Spend Repository and Identifiers

When spend data isn’t centralized, it slows down reporting and increases the risk of missing deadlines. Without clear visibility across systems, teams spend valuable time gathering and validating fragmented data.

Fix: Leverage an aggregate spend platform that provides insight across all sources of spend. Build ad-hoc queries and maintain a consolidated Master Recipient profile list.

5. Gaps in Reporting and Monitoring Capabilities

Manual systems make it difficult to identify risk and keep pace with reporting requirements across jurisdictions.

Fix: Use a compliance platform with ad-hoc analytics, report generation, and proactive monitoring from a team of industry veterans. Identify risks early, meet all Federal Open Payments (Sunshine Act), State, and Local obligations and track Sales Rep and Lobbyist licensing and registration.

Fast Wins for Stronger Compliance Reporting

Not all platforms or partners offer the same level of quality. Cost-sensitive companies should prioritize:

  • Automated HCP spend data capture at time of expense
  • Leverage systematic auto-mapping of data to streamline acquisition and loading from disparate spend sources
  • Integrate data remediation and enrichment from a leading HCP data partner
  • Automate report generation for Open Payments, state and local requirements
  • Rely on third party regulation monitoring and proactive updates from trusted industry veterans

Looking to learn more about regulatory compliance reporting in Life Sciences? Access our starting guide.