Glossary
Life Sciences Compliance and Data Glossary
Key licensing, data and transparency reporting terms, defined for Life Sciences compliance and commercial teams.
Last reviewed October 2026
MedPro Platforms and Products
The platforms, products and delivery options behind MedPro’s data and compliance programs.
MedPro Systems (MedPro)
A Mount Arlington, NJ-based provider of authoritative healthcare license data and compliance solutions for Life Sciences organizations, backed by a dedicated team of industry veterans. MedPro has supported Life Sciences compliance and commercial operations for 25+ years.
MedPro Medical Professional ID (MedProID)
MedPro’s data platform. MedProID® delivers trusted Healthcare Professional (HCP) and Healthcare Organization (HCO) licensing data, sourced directly and on an ongoing basis from authoritative federal, state and industry sources, and integrated into the systems your compliance and commercial teams use. The platform includes ProAccess®, ProSync® and ProFocus®, supported by 20+ pre-built integrations.
ProAccess
On-demand access to verified HCP and HCO licensing data, sourced directly from the authorities that issue it. Capabilities include license search and verification, bulk data validation, API and system connectivity and pre-built partner integrations.
ProSync
Ongoing HCP and HCO license monitoring, configured to your business rules and delivered on your schedule. ProSync automates the monitoring and delivery of license updates into your CRM, MDM and downstream systems, with configurable tracking across 300+ data elements, sampleability® and eligibility checks, distribution license validation and delivery by FTP or API.
ProFocus
Enhanced HCP and HCO profile data built on the MedProID data foundation, with enriched profile attributes, ongoing sanction monitoring, verified contact data and a U.S.-based stewardship team working alongside yours. ProFocus supports specialty consolidation, practice-level detail and the nuanced data collection your targeting strategy depends on.
MedPro Compliance Reporting ID (MCR)
A scalable compliance ecosystem for end-to-end HCP engagement, global transparency reporting and centralized regulatory intelligence. MCR brings together U.S. Reporting, Global Reporting, RegulatoryID and EngagePro, strengthened by MedProID data.
U.S. Reporting
The MCR module for U.S. transparency reporting, covering Federal Open Payments (Sunshine Act), state and local aggregate spend, drug samples reporting and field representative registration and licensure requirements.
Global Reporting
The MCR module for international disclosure reporting, bringing obligations across 50+ countries into a single, centralized platform.
RegulatoryID
A searchable, expert-maintained compendium of U.S. federal, state and international transparency laws, industry codes and regulations across 50+ countries, with alerts when requirements change, deadlines approach or new obligations are enacted. RegulatoryID is included with MCR or available as a standalone license. MedPro also publishes a monthly RegulatoryID update in the Resource Center.
EngagePro
The MCR module for HCP engagement management. EngagePro brings annual planning, participant selection, approvals, execution and close-out into a single configurable workflow, capturing every approval, eligibility check and rate decision in the engagement record.
StarkLawID
An MCR capability for tracking non-monetary compensation that Designated Health Services (DHS) entities provide to physicians, supporting Stark Law compliance.
MedPro DirectID
Pre-built integrations that embed MedProID license validation and HCP and HCO data directly into CRM, MDM and other enterprise systems, and HCP data into T&E platforms, through partner connectors and APIs.
WebID
MedPro’s web-based license verification tool. WebID® lets your team search and confirm the license status of any U.S. HCP or HCO, along with the profile and demographic attributes behind each record.
BulkID
Scheduled batch file delivery of MedProID data on a daily, weekly or monthly cadence, by secure file transfer or API, for large-volume enrichment and periodic validation.
WebServicesID
API access to MedProID for on-demand record lookup embedded directly in your own applications and workflows.
MedProDB
Delivery of large volume datasets for targeted insights and AI model training.
Healthcare Entities and Identifiers
The healthcare entities and identifiers used to validate and manage HCP and HCO data across regulatory, operational and reporting workflows.
Healthcare Professional (HCP)
An individual legally authorized to prescribe, dispense, administer or influence the use of medicinal products or healthcare services. HCPs include licensed practitioners across medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing, therapy, behavioral health, veterinary and other disciplines.
HCP professional designations MedProID covers
Healthcare Organization (HCO)
An entity in the healthcare, medical, scientific or Life Sciences field, regardless of legal or organizational structure, that may directly or indirectly influence the prescribing, acquisition, distribution, use or administration of medical products and services.
HCO organization types MedProID covers
Healthcare Identifiers
National Provider Identifier (NPI)
A unique 10-digit identification number issued to U.S. healthcare providers by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) through the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). NPIs identify HCPs and many HCOs in standard healthcare transactions.
State License Number (SLN)
A jurisdiction-specific identifier issued by a state licensing authority confirming that an HCP or HCO is authorized to practice or operate in that state.
Controlled Dangerous Substance (CDS) Registration
A state-issued controlled substance credential authorizing a healthcare professional to prescribe, administer or dispense controlled substances. MedPro acquires CDS data alongside state license data and checks it on the same cadence.
Health Industry Number (HIN)
An industry-recognized identifier assigned to healthcare organizations and locations, used to standardize identification in ordering, contracting, shipping and billing transactions.
Covered Recipient ID
An identifier used in U.S. federal, state and local transparency reporting to distinguish the HCPs and HCOs whose payments and transfers of value are reportable.
Global Location Number (GLN)
A GS1-issued identifier for a physical location, used in DSCSA supply chain transaction data. MedPro maintains an SLN-GLN crosswalk with 250,000+ matched associations linking licensed entities to their GLNs.
Taxonomy Code
A unique alphanumeric code from the National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC) code set that classifies a healthcare provider by type, classification and specialization.
Cross-Walk Identifiers
Structured links between an HCP’s or HCO’s identifiers across federal, state and industry registries, such as SLN, NPI, CDS and HIN.
MedPro Master ID
A unique MedPro-generated identifier at the HCP profile level that links all of a practitioner’s state licenses and cross-referenced identifiers, such as NPI and CDS.
Data attributes and compliance indicators
Data Sourcing and Management
How authoritative HCP and HCO data is sourced, validated and maintained.
Authoritative Data
Data obtained directly from primary U.S. federal, state or recognized industry sources, so each record is accurate, traceable and reliable.
State License Data
Licensing information acquired directly from state licensing boards, including license status, issuance and expiration dates, disciplinary actions and historical changes. MedPro checks state boards 12 to 18 times a year on average, and daily during renewal periods, for 350M+ state license acquisitions and updates every year.
Industry Data Sources
Professional and organizational data from recognized healthcare registries and associations, such as the AMA, NCPDP, HIN, VAWD and FDA wholesale distributor (WDD/3PL) listings.
Information Verification Call Center (IVCC)
MedPro’s first-party data collection and verification service. MedPro’s Enhanced Verification agents collect and verify information directly, following customer-provided scripts, to help you meet key regulatory requirements through direct commercial and compliance verification, outbound polling and custom script execution.
Data Cross-Walk
The process of linking and cross-referencing professional and organizational identifiers across authoritative sources to create one unified, validated record for each HCP or HCO.
Master Data Governance
The framework for managing, validating and maintaining consistent professional and organizational data across systems, with clear ownership, controlled access and documented change history.
Data Validation
The process of verifying professional and organizational information against authoritative sources for completeness, accuracy and regulatory compliance.
Data Enrichment
Adding verified identifiers, demographic attributes and supplemental data to existing records to make them more complete and usable.
Historical License Records
Archived licensing data documenting previous license statuses, address changes and disciplinary actions, used for audit support and longitudinal analysis. MedPro maintains 25+ years of historical licensing data and 2B+ lifetime license acquisitions since 2001.
Provider Demographics
Core descriptive data for an HCP, including name, address, specialty, contact information and related profile attributes.
Address Standardization (Address Validation)
Verifying, correcting and formatting address data so it is accurate, consistent and usable across enterprise systems.
License Verification and Monitoring
The processes and controls used to verify, monitor and maintain accurate license and eligibility status across jurisdictions.
License Verification
Validating an HCP’s license status against authoritative licensing sources at the point of engagement, such as before a sample, payment or shipment.
Continuous License Monitoring
Ongoing tracking of license status changes, disciplinary actions and sanctions across federal and state datasets, so compliance oversight reflects each HCP’s current standing rather than a one-time check.
License Status
The official standing of a professional license, such as active, expired, suspended, revoked or restricted.
Sanctions Monitoring
Systematic review of federal and state exclusion lists and disciplinary databases, such as OFAC, FDA, OIG-LEIE, SAM and state disciplinary actions, to identify individuals or entities subject to regulatory restrictions.
OIG Exclusion
A designation by the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) that bars an individual or entity from participating in federally funded healthcare programs.
Sampleability Updates
Ongoing updates to the license attributes that determine whether an HCP can receive drug samples. Sampleability values are calculated against your business rules on a defined cadence, factoring in license status, expiration date, sanctions, professional designation and other configurable attributes.
Eligibility Updates
Automated, recurring license checks for commercial and distribution operations, giving a clear eligibility determination for each HCP or HCO in your universe.
Proactive Updates
Configurable tracking that delivers daily, weekly or custom updates on 300+ licensing and data elements.
Transparency and Disclosure Reporting
The core concepts behind U.S. and international transparency reporting and HCP engagement compliance.
Transfer of Value (ToV)
Any direct or indirect payment, benefit or item of value provided to an HCP or HCO, such as consulting fees, honoraria, research funding, travel or meals. Transfers of value are the core data element in transparency reporting worldwide.
Aggregate Spend
The total value of payments and transfers of value a Life Sciences manufacturer provides to HCPs and HCOs within a defined reporting period and jurisdiction.
U.S. Aggregate Spend
The tracking, consolidation, classification and reporting of transfers of value under Federal Open Payments (Sunshine Act) and applicable state and local transparency laws. It covers capture of reportable interactions, categorization under CMS reporting rules, consolidation of federal and state obligations and annual submission.
Global Transparency Reporting
The management and submission of disclosure data across international jurisdictions, each with its own regulations, industry codes, thresholds, recipient definitions, currency rules and timelines, including whether disclosures are public.
Spend Capture
Identifying and recording financial interactions and transfers of value at the source, so reporting is complete, accurate and defensible in every applicable jurisdiction.
Spend Classification
Categorizing transfers of value according to each jurisdiction’s reporting framework so disclosures align with regulatory requirements.
Covered Recipient
An HCP or HCO whose payments and transfers of value manufacturers must report under Federal Open Payments (Sunshine Act). Covered recipients include physicians and teaching hospitals. The SUPPORT Act expanded the definition, starting with data collected in 2021, to include physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse midwives.
HCP Engagement Management
The planning, approval, execution and documentation of fee-for-service engagements with HCPs, such as advisory boards, speaker programs and consulting, so each engagement is justified, compliant and reportable.
Fair Market Value (FMV)
The compensation rate an independent party would pay for a comparable HCP service, used to set and document payments for engagements such as speaking, consulting and advisory boards.
Compliance Frameworks
U.S. federal, state and local and international regulations that shape how Life Sciences manufacturers engage with, supply and report on HCPs and HCOs. Each entry links to the full topic page in the Resource Center.
U.S. Federal Regulations
Federal Open Payments (Sunshine Act)
Definition: Requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies to report payments and transfers of value to physicians, teaching hospitals and other covered recipients to CMS each year. Applicable group purchasing organizations also report physician ownership interests.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Identify covered recipients accurately, track every reportable transfer of value through the calendar year and submit to CMS by the March deadline.
How MedPro Supports: MedProID provides validated HCP and HCO profiles and identifiers for accurate recipient matching. MCR U.S. Reporting manages capture, review and submission.
Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA)
Definition: Regulates the distribution of prescription drug samples, with requirements for accountability, recordkeeping and verification of the HCPs authorized to receive samples.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Track every drug sample and validate each recipient’s state license at least once a year, keeping accurate distribution records.
How MedPro Supports: MedProID verifies HCP licenses and prescribing authority before samples are distributed, with sampleability updates delivered into your systems.
Federal Drug Samples Reporting
Definition: Requires manufacturers and authorized distributors of record to report the drug samples requested by and distributed to HCPs to the FDA each year.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Track sample requests and distribution, confirm recipient eligibility and submit the annual report by April 1.
How MedPro Supports: MedProID validates HCP licenses, prescribing authority and practice locations. MCR U.S. Reporting supports the annual drug samples report.
Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA)
Definition: Sets requirements for securing and tracing prescription drugs through the U.S. supply chain. Manufacturers, wholesale distributors and 3PLs must share lot-level transaction information and verify that trading partners are authorized.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Validate that every trading partner is an Authorized Trading Partner (ATP) by verifying state licensing credentials, and maintain accurate location identifiers for supply chain transactions.
How MedPro Supports: MedProID automates ongoing license validation for every shipment. MedPro’s SLN-GLN crosswalk adds 250,000+ matched associations between licensed entities and their Global Location Numbers.
Stark Law
Definition: The federal physician self-referral law. It prohibits physicians from referring Medicare and Medicaid patients for designated health services (DHS) to entities they have a financial relationship with, unless an exception applies. Non-monetary compensation to a physician is capped at $535 for 2026.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Maintain accurate provider and organizational relationship data, and track non-monetary compensation against the annual limit.
How MedPro Supports: MedProID provides validated provider identity and affiliation data. MCR tracks non-monetary HCP compensation for DHS entities.
U.S. State and Local Regulations
State and Local Aggregate Spend Reporting
Definition: Ten U.S. states and localities require manufacturers to report payments, gifts or other transfers of value to HCPs and HCOs, with formats, thresholds and deadlines that vary by jurisdiction.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Track and report payments at the recipient level in each jurisdiction, in the required format and by each deadline.
How MedPro Supports: MedProID attributes payments to the correct licensed HCP or HCO. MCR U.S. Reporting manages state and local submissions.
Ohio TDDD (Terminal Distributors of Dangerous Drugs)
Definition: Ohio’s licensing program for facilities that possess, sell or distribute dangerous drugs. Ohio requires a TDDD-licensed practice address before dangerous drug samples reach Ohio HCPs.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Verify that each Ohio practice address holds a valid TDDD license before shipping samples, and keep facility records current.
How MedPro Supports: MedPro verifies TDDD licensure and address eligibility through validated facility and licensing data.
Florida HCCE (Health Care Clinic Establishment)
Definition: A Florida permit for certain healthcare clinics that purchase prescription drugs under a qualifying practitioner.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: When selling to a Florida practice with an HCCE permit, capture the permit plus the qualifying practitioner’s name, state license number and expiration date.
How MedPro Supports: MedPro provides validated HCO profiles with facility permit and qualifying practitioner data.
Massachusetts Controlled Substance Registration (MCSR)
Definition: A location-specific registration issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Drug Control Program. Massachusetts treats all prescription drugs as controlled substances, so prescribers and facilities that handle prescription drugs must hold a valid MCSR.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Verify both the professional license and a valid, location-specific MCSR before shipping prescription drugs or providing samples to Massachusetts HCPs.
How MedPro Supports: MedPro provides MCSR data alongside license data for Massachusetts HCPs and practice locations.
Global Reporting
Global Transparency Frameworks
Definition: International laws and industry codes, such as EFPIA, ABPI and country-specific disclosure regulations, that require manufacturers to report payments and transfers of value to HCPs and HCOs, each with its own reporting standards.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Maintain consistent HCP and HCO identity data across markets, attribute payments correctly and meet each country’s reporting obligations.
How MedPro Supports: MCR Global Reporting manages obligations across 50+ countries from one platform. RegulatoryID tracks requirements by country.
EFPIA Disclosure Code
Definition: The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) code requiring member companies to publicly disclose transfers of value to HCPs and HCOs each year, implemented through national industry association codes.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Identify recipients accurately, classify transfers of value by EFPIA category and publish the annual disclosure in each market.
How MedPro Supports: MCR Global Reporting supports EFPIA disclosures. RegulatoryID covers EFPIA requirements alongside other international codes.
MedTech Europe Code of Ethical Business Practice
Definition: The MedTech Europe code that governs how medical technology companies interact with HCPs and HCOs in Europe. Its Disclosure Guidelines require member companies to disclose all educational grants made during the prior calendar year to HCOs registered or based in the MedTech geographic area.
Action for Life Sciences Manufacturers: Track educational grants to HCOs through the year, complete the annual disclosure by June 30 and prepare for the new disclosure process MedTech Europe will introduce in 2027.
How MedPro Supports: MCR Global Reporting supports MedTech Europe disclosures. RegulatoryID covers MedTech Europe requirements alongside EFPIA and other international codes.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Next Steps
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