U.S. patent application number 14/167795 was filed with the patent office on 2014-05-29 for pharmaceutical representative expense report management software, systems, and methodologies.
This patent application is currently assigned to Purdue Pharma L.P.. The applicant listed for this patent is Purdue Pharma L.P.. Invention is credited to Puneet Arora, Margaret K. Feltz, Sayee Natarajan, Jake Stahl, Bert Weinstein.
Application Number | 20140149134 14/167795 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39331418 |
Filed Date | 2014-05-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140149134 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Arora; Puneet ; et
al. |
May 29, 2014 |
Pharmaceutical Representative Expense Report Management Software,
Systems, And Methodologies
Abstract
Electronic assigning of expense data related to sales calls to
customers such as health care professionals (HCPs) aids in
complying with local, state, federal, or other regulatory reporting
requirements and guidelines. The method includes providing expense
report data and presenting a line-item entry of the report on a
display. Through a user interface, one or more customers included
within a database are selected. An expense amount associated with
the line-item entry is automatically allocated into dollar amounts
among the selected customer(s) and entries in the database are
updated for each selected customer to now include the allocated
dollar amounts.
Inventors: |
Arora; Puneet; (Stamford,
CT) ; Feltz; Margaret K.; (Wilton, CT) ;
Natarajan; Sayee; (Norwalk, CT) ; Stahl; Jake;
(Milford, CT) ; Weinstein; Bert; (Mountain Lake,
NJ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Purdue Pharma L.P. |
Stamford |
CT |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Purdue Pharma L.P.
Stamford
CT
|
Family ID: |
39331418 |
Appl. No.: |
14/167795 |
Filed: |
January 29, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11925491 |
Oct 26, 2007 |
8688465 |
|
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14167795 |
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60867906 |
Nov 30, 2006 |
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60863243 |
Oct 27, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/10 20130101;
G06Q 40/12 20131203 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/2 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 50/22 20060101
G06Q050/22; G06Q 40/00 20060101 G06Q040/00 |
Claims
1. A computer-assisted method for electronically assigning an
expense of a particular representative among a plurality of
representatives with one or more health care providers ("HCPs"),
each HCP being identified within a database of with a user,
comprising the steps of: providing expense report data to a memory
of a machine, the expense report data including a line-item entry
having an associated expense amount; presenting the line-item entry
on a display of the machine; selecting through interaction with a
user interface one HCP from among the HCPs identified in the
database; selectively selecting through further interaction with
the user interface another HCP from among the HCPs identified in
the database; automatically allocating the expense amount of the
line-item entry into dollar amounts among each selected HCP using a
processor of the machine in response to the selection of the
another HCP; updating database entries for each selected HCP to
include the allocated dollar amounts in said entries and to include
a year-to date-spending total allocated to each selected HCP,
including in the spending total of expenses allocated to each
selected HCP by any of the plurality of representatives, using a
processor of the machine; displaying on the display of the machine
the year-to-date spending total associated with at least each of
the HCPs to which the expense amount of the line-item entry has
been allocated; and providing at the machine a status of a entry
which indicates whether an has been assigned to the expense
associated with the particular line item entry.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the allocating step allocates the
expense amount into even dollar amounts among selected HCPs to an
acceptable rounding error of the order of pennies or dollars.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the line-item entry further has
an expense date and wherein at least one of the selecting steps
includes the step of: interacting with a particular HCP in the
selection of HCPs, through the user interface, to select the
HCP.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the displaying step is preceded
by the steps of executing a search of the database in which the
search criteria includes a search for the expense date being
included in a database entry for any of the selection of HCPs.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the displayed selection of HCPs
is presented on the display in association with a scroll control,
the method including the additional step of selectively scrolling
the set of HCPs to display the particular HCP prior to the
interacting step.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the displayed selection of HCPs
is displayed in a customers-seen region on the display, the method
including the additional step of displaying each HCP having an
allocated expense amount of the line-item entry in a
expense-applicable region on the display which is different than
the customers-seen region.)
7. A computer-assisted method for electronically assigning an
expense of a particular representative among a plurality of
representatives with one or more health care providers ("HCPs"),
each HCP being identified within a database comprising the steps
of: providing expense report data to a memory of a machine, the
expense report data including a line item entry having an
associated expense amount and an expense date; presenting the
line-item entry on a display of the machine; displaying a selection
of HCPs that satisfy a criterion of identified in the database and
having a call-note entry in the database which corresponds to a
visit by the particular representative with the HCP on the expense
date; selecting through interaction with a user interface on the
machine a particular HCP among the selection of HCPs that satisfy
the criterion; selectively selecting through further interaction
with the user interface another HCP from among the selection of
HCPs that satisfy the criterion; automatically allocating the
expense amount of the line-item entry into dollar amounts among
each selected HCP using a processor of the machine and in response
to the deletion of one or more selected HCPs; refreshing the
display so as to display an HCP to whom an expense was already
allocated in an expense-applicable region and to display an HCP to
whom an expense was not allocated in a customers-seen region,
wherein the expense-applicable region is different than, the
customers-seen region; updating database entries to reflect the
allocated expense amount using the processor of the machine and to
include a year-to date-spending total allocated to each selected
HCP, including in the spending total of expenses allocated to each
selected HCP by any of the plurality of representatives; displaying
on the display of the machine the year-to-date spending total
associated with at least each of the HCPs to which the expense
amount of the line-item entry has been allocated; and causing the
machine to produce one or more alerts in the event that a
prescribed time period has transpired prior to the updating step
being performed in regard to the line-item entry in the expense
report data.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the selecting
steps includes the steps of: executing a search of the database;
presenting a selection of HCPs responsive to the executed search on
the display of the machine; and interacting with a particular HCP
in the selection of HCPs through the user interface.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the executed search comprises a
database query formulated by the particular representative.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the set of HCPs is presented on
the display in association with a scroll control, the method
including the additional step of selectively scrolling the
selection of HCPs to display the particular HCP prior to the
interacting step.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises
downloading the expense report data.
12. The method of claim 1, including the additional step of
uploading updated database entries to another machine.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the updating step includes the
step of totaling the allocated dollar amount with any previously
stored dollar amount for each selected HCP.
14. The method of claim 13, including the further step of
displaying information in the database relating to one or more HCPs
in association with a totaled dollar amount.
15. The method of claim 13, including the additional step of
displaying year-to-date information included in the database which
relates to any allocated or totaled dollar amount of one or more
expense amounts in a present calendar year.
16. The method of claim 1, including the additional steps of
prompting the particular representative to identify a location of
at least one selected HCP.
17. The method of claim 1, the method including the additional step
of causing the machine to produce one or more alerts in the event
that a prescribed time period has transpired prior to the updating
step being performed in regard to the line-item entry in the
expense report data.
18. The method of claim 1, including the additional steps of:
importing the expense report data from a third-party vendor into a
central computer; parsing the imported expense report data so as to
identify a subset of expense report data associated with the
machine or a particular representative assigned to the machine; and
wherein the providing step comprises downloading the subset of
expense report data from the central computer to the machine.
19. A computer-assisted method for electronically associating an
expense of a particular representative among a plurality of
representatives with one or more health care providers ("HCPs"),
each HCP being identified within a database, comprising the steps
of: providing expense report data to a memory of a machine, the
expense report data including a line-item entry having an
associated expense amount and an expense date; presenting the
line-item entry on a display of the machine; obtaining through
interaction with a user interface on the machine a first selection
of a first HCP from among the HCPs identified in the database that
satisfies a criterion of having a call-note entry in the database
which corresponds to the visit by the particular representative
with the HCP on the expense date; automatically allocating an
entirety of the expense amount of the line-item entry to the first
HCP obtained in response to the first selection using a processor
of the machine; selectively obtaining through further interaction
with the user interface on the machine a second selection of a
second HCP from among the HCPs identified in the database that
satisfy the criterion; automatically allocating the expense amount
of the line-item entry among the first and second HCPs in response
to the second selection being made using the processor of the
machine and in response to the deletion of one or more selected
HCPs; updating database entries to reflect the allocated expense
amount using the processor of the machine and to include a year-to
date-spending total allocated to each selected HCP, including in
the spending total of expenses allocated to each selected HCP by
any of the plurality of representatives; displaying on the display
of the machine the year-to-date spending total associated with at
least each of the HCPs to which the expense amount of the line-item
entry has been allocated; and causing the machine to produce one or
more alerts in the event that a prescribed time period has
transpired prior to the updating step being performed in regard to
the line-item entry in the expense report data.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the expense report data
includes plural line-item entries, each line-item entry has a
respective associated expense amount, and the selections and
allocations are made with respect to each of said plural line-item
entries.
21. The method of claim 1, wherein a representative of a
manufacture or service provider has the machine forwarding data to
a location associated with or accessible by a central computer.
22. The method of claim 1, wherein expense information to reconcile
is a spending limit for an HCP regulated in a territory where the
HCP performs his/her duties.
Description
[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of priority under
35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e) of U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/867,906,
filed Nov. 30, 2006, entitled "Pharmaceutical Representative
Expense Report Management Software, Systems, And Methodologies,"
and of U.S. application Ser. No. 60/863,243, filed Oct. 27, 2006,
entitled " Territory Management System," which are hereby
incorporated by reference in their respective entireties.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to the capture and reporting
of expenses that relate to the activities of field representatives
of manufacturers and service providers, and more particularly, to
software, systems and methodologies that assist in the capture and
timely reporting of expenses with a health care professional.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] For several reasons, it is important to track and manage
expenses related to promotion of business concerning sales calls to
actual and prospective customers. One common reason for doing so is
to have a defensible basis for seeking reimbursement from another
entity, e.g., a manufacturer or service provider. Another reason
relates to compliance with regulatory provisions or state or
federal law. For instance, in the pharmaceutical sector, expenses
with health care professionals such as doctors can be subject to
constraints including annual limits on marketing costs and certain
categories of spending can be subject to prohibitions.
[0004] The management and tracking of these expenses is a
non-trivial task, especially in situations in which multiple
representatives of the same company make calls (e.g., sales calls)
to the same person or professional group within a given reporting
period. One way in which a representative can inadvertently exceed
permitted limits or constraints is to allocate expenses relating to
spending on a professional who has already had expenses
so-allocated by another representative in the same compliance
period. This can occur even when field representatives have
exclusively assigned professionals, because a given professional
can be visited by multiple representatives for a variety of
reasons, including to have different lines of product or service
explained, or simply because that professional is part of a group
that is visited by several representative (e.g., health management
organizations or pharmacies having multiple professionals).
[0005] Thus, there is a need for improvements relating to one or
more of the acts of tracking, managing, and reporting expenses
incurred by company representatives, including expenses relating to
visits with health care professionals. The present invention
addresses these and other needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a
computer-assisted method for electronically assigning an expense
with one or more health care providers ("HCPs") has each HCP
identified within a database of a machine associated with a user.
Expense report data is provided which includes a line-item entry
having an associated expense amount. The line-item entry is
presented on a display, and, through a user interface, one HCP is
selected. Another and further selections of HCPs can also be made.
The expense amount of the line-item entry is automatically
allocated into dollar amounts among each selected HCP. The database
entries are updated for each obtained HCP to include the allocated
dollar amounts.
[0007] In more specific methods in accordance with the foregoing
aspect, the allocating step can allocate the expense amount into
generally even dollar amounts among each selected HCP, the
providing step can comprise downloading the expense report data,
and the updating step can comprise the step of totaling the
allocated dollar amount with any previously stored dollar amount
for each selected HCP.
[0008] In still further more specific methods, additional steps can
be performed so as to display information in the database relating
to one or more HCPs in association with a totaled dollar amount,
display allocated or totaled dollar amount spending on a given HCP
on a year-to-date basis, or cause the machine to produce one or
more alerts.
[0009] In yet another aspect of the invention, a computer-assisted
method for electronically assigning an expense with one or more
health care providers ("HCPs") has each HCP identified within a
database associated with a user. Expense report data is provided
which includes a line-item entry having an associated expense
amount. The line-item entry is presented on a display, and, through
a user interface, a first selection of a first HCP is obtained. An
entirety of the expense amount of the line-item entry is
automatically allocated to the first HCP obtained in response to
the selection. A second selection of a second HCP is selectively
obtained and the expense amount of the line-item entry is
selectively allocated among the first and second HCPs in response
to any such second user selection having been made.
[0010] These and other aspects, features, and advantages will be
apparent from the following description of certain embodiments and
the accompanying drawing figures.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0011] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating certain steps in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention relating to the
capture of certain expense information into a territory management
software application;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating certain steps in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention relating to the
allocation of expense information among customers which has been
captured by a process such as illustrated in FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 3A is a sample expense report summary concerning
spending activity by a representative;
[0014] FIG. 3B is the sample report of FIG. 3A after allocating
expenses in one of the line-items to one or more health care
professionals, which is a preferred application of the present
invention;
[0015] FIG. 4A is a sample form for allocating expenses among
particular health care professionals;
[0016] FIG. 4B is the sample form of FIG. 4A, now showing
allocations relating to a line-item expense among multiple health
care professionals;
[0017] FIG. 4C is the sample form of FIG. 4B, now showing an
additional allocation relating to the line-item expense;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a sample search form which is suitable for
identifying customers such as health care professionals from among
those assigned to a representative's territory, with the search
results being available for selection and use by the representative
in completing forms such as the sample of FIG. 4A;
[0019] FIG. 6 is a sample input mechanism for more particularly
identifying an HCP's location when several are included in the
database;
[0020] FIG. 7 is one sample output form that presents allocated
"year to date" amounts spent on a particular HCP, here in the
context of call notes captured after a site visit;
[0021] FIG. 8A is a sample expense review form suitable for use by
any of a representative, a district manager, and a supervisor in
order to identify line-item entries in expense reports which have
not been allocated among any HCPs; and
[0022] FIG. 8B is a sample detail view that can be presented to a
user interested in further information concerning the entries in
the form of FIG. 8A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS
[0023] By way of overview and introduction, a territory management
system provides representatives with a tool for conducting their
activities in an efficient manner, and in particular includes
functionality adapted to better ensure compliance with regulatory
reporting requirements concerning, among other thing, expenses
relating to visits with health care professionals ("HCPs").
[0024] The management system is preferably implemented as a
software-based system, baying components executing on a number of
systems including a central computer and a multiplicity of remote
machines, with each representative having a remote machine for his
or her personal use and for forwarding adverse event information to
a location associated with or accessible by the central computer.
Without loss of generality, the present invention is described in
relation to a particular representative using a single remote
machine in the course of his or her activities covering an assigned
territory. In the preferred embodiment described below, the
representative is bespoke or contracted to a pharmaceutical
manufacturer, and the representative "covers" a territory through
visits to physicians and nurses (more generally, "prescribers") at
which the representative is able to discuss and promote the use of
the manufacturer's products.
[0025] A preferred software tool for a territory management system
is described, in part, in the aforementioned U.S. Provisional
Application Serial No. 60/863,243. The Territory Management System
software provides through a Web-browser interface a number of tools
that assist the representative in planning, recording, and tracking
activities with customers such as prescribers. In relevant part,
the Territory Management System software can assist a
representative with compliance issues concerning certain regulatory
requirements or state or federal constraints concerning expenses
relating to visits with health care professionals. The Territory
Management System software includes additional features that can
assist representatives in other ways, such as in reducing
discrepancies in sample inventories as between stored and on-hand
inventories, and scheduling site visits to HCPs. Various features
of the Territory Management System software are described in
certain non-provisional patent applications, which are also now
co-pending and are referenced below to the extent they have
pertinence to the discussion of the present invention.
[0026] The remote machine used by the representative includes a
suitable complement of hardware and software including, by way of
example, a processor, memory, an accessible database,
communications equipment, and input/output devices.
[0027] Referring now to FIG. 1, a flow diagram illustrates
functionality suitable for capturing certain expense information
that a representative may incur in the course of covering his or
her territory. Because the representative makes a point of visiting
prescribers, he or she may, in the course of such sales calls,
incur expenses. Likewise, in other fields, the representative may
incur expenses which need to be captured and matched against the
customers that were visited. The term "expense" or "qualified
expense" as used in relation to an expenditure by a representative
on a customer are those that are subject to regulatory or
government limits, and sometimes also to reporting requirements,
and can be, by way of examples, meals, coffee, advertising and/or
promotion-related expenses and marketing-related expenses. As used
herein, the expense in an expense report excludes amounts spent on
or reasonably assignable to the representative accompanying any
prescriber(s) at the time the expenses are incurred.
[0028] The process 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 concerns activities
relating to an appointment of the representative, which can be a
scheduled appointment or a "drop-in" visit. In the area of
pharmaceutical representation, it is common for a representative to
drop-in on a prescriber within the representative's assigned
territory with the hope that the prescriber will be able to speak
with the representative for a few minutes. The nature of such
visits can vary from informal to formal, but one objective of the
representative is to promote a prescriber's familiarity and
understanding of pharmaceuticals that the representative wishes the
prescriber to prescribe to patients. In other fields, the
representative similarly has an objective of promoting purchase and
use of his or her represented products and services through
educational and promotional efforts.
[0029] Thus, at block 105, the representative makes a site visit to
a particular prescriber's office. The representative typically
makes a number of visits during the course of a day, whether
scheduled or drop-in, and these visits can be coordinated through a
calendar function provided by the same programmed system that
handles the representative's reporting of any expense information.
The scheduling and calendar functions form no part of the present
invention, but are described in the following co-pending
applications: U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/868,015, filed on Nov.
30, 2006, entitled "Cycle Planning Tool for Territory Management,"
U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/868,027, filed on Nov. 30, 2006,
entitled "Itinerary Search Tool for Territory Management," and U.S.
Application Ser. No. 60/867,902, filed on Nov. 30, 2006, entitled
"Methods for Sales Call Data Management and Processing," which are
each hereby incorporated by reference in their respective
entireties.
[0030] It may be that the prescriber is not available for a
conference with the representative, in which case the
representative proceeds to a next appointment by traveling to
another site within his or her territory, preferably with guidance
from a calendared set of appointments that fill the day. If,
however, a conference is held with a prescriber at a particular
site visit, then the representative is supposed to capture a
summary of who was met, what products (services) were discussed,
whether samples were provided (and details concerning same),
whether any adverse event information was discussed, propose a next
meeting and follow-up discussion points, and document any expenses
attributable to any prescribers that were visited.
[0031] Representatives generally seek to satisfy any concerns
expressed by the customers in their territory, and so follow-up
points can be captured in the territory management software so that
the representative can better address those concerns with their
customers. Representatives also have obligations to the company
they represent to document any expenses attributable to visits to
their customers and any adverse events that may have been reported
for investigation or follow-up. Functionality, systems and
methodologies suited to adverse-event data capture, management and
reporting are described in co-pending U.S. Application Ser. No.
60/867,923, filed on Nov. 30, 2006, entitled "Adverse Event Data
Capture Software, Systems, And Methodologies" ("AE Capture"), which
is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, and is not
described further in this application.
[0032] Use of the territory management system commences then at
block 110 at which the representative initiates the entry of
visitation notes, known as making a "call completion" because he or
she has completed a sales call to the prescriber/customer and has
meeting notes to record. The user can initiate this data entry
process in a variety of ways. For example, a calendar feature of
the management system can present an icon such as a telephone icon
for selection which causes a call-notes entry form to be displayed.
Alternatively, the calendar feature of the management system can
include entries showing the time, location, or both, of the visits
for that day which the representative can select to bring up the
call-notes entry form. Yet another alternative is that the
representative can call up a prescriber summary page which can
include a link (or an icon as mentioned above) to enter call notes
that are to be associated with that prescriber visit.
[0033] At block 110, the user inputs call notes and any adverse
information using a suitable data entry form, such as the
call-notes entry form described in the aforementioned AE Capture
disclosure, which is recorded into the local database on the user's
machine. The completed call notes and any adverse-event information
are uploaded to the central computer over a suitable communication
link, at block 115. During that same communication or in a separate
communication session, the central computer can download to the
user's machine information that is designated for receipt by the
representative, including, in relevant part, any expense
information that has been imported or otherwise provided to the
software, as indicated at block 140. The data exchange is over a
communication link between the central computer and the remote
machine of the representative. In the event that the
representative's machine includes wireless network capabilities
(e.g., a broadband card that can connect the machine through a "hot
spot"), the upload at block 115 (and optionally the download at
block 140) can occur whenever the system detects that it has secure
network connectivity, and this process can be performed as a
background thread while the user performs other tasks on the
machine running the territory management software. The data
exchange can be conducted in accordance with co-pending U.S.
Application Ser. No. 60/867,943, filed on Nov. 30, 2006, entitled
"Data Cache Techniques In Support Of Synchronization of Databases
In A Distributed Environment," which is hereby incorporated by
reference in its entirety.
[0034] Referring again to block 105, in some cases the site visit
with a particular prescriber can include expenses relating to
business promotion, marketing, or meals with the prescriber or the
prescriber's staff, or a combination of these expenses. In the
event that there were any qualified expenses, conceptually
expressed at block 120 as a decision, then in accordance with a
salient aspect of the present invention, those expenses can be
captured and tracked using functionality of the territory
management software described next. In the event that there were no
qualified expenses associated with the site visit, other processes
can be continued, including the normal activities of the
representative in conducting his job duties, with or without
assistance from the territory management software.
[0035] In the event that there were any qualified expenses, those
expenses are typically paid in cash or charged to an account
through the use of a credit card, such as a card provided by a
creditor such as American Express.RTM., Visa.RTM., MasterCard.RTM.,
or Discover.RTM., as indicated at block 125. The term "credit card"
is meant to broadly include a variety of accounting mechanisms that
enable a representative to pay for any qualified expenses with a
customer. By way of example, expenses that might be paid in cash or
charged to a credit card include coffee, lunch, dinner that may be
incurred with one or more prescribers or their staff. In order to
comply with various regulations and guidelines, expenses of that
nature are to be recorded and tallied so as to stay within any
limitations or constraints or otherwise be in a form that permits
reporting to interested parties, such as the company for whom the
representative works, a state or federal agency, a watchdog group,
and the like.
[0036] At block 130, expense reports are preferably imported into
the territory management software system. By way of example, the
information in the expense reports can be manually input in
connection with the representative's preparation of an expense
report. An expense management software package, such as
Expenselink.RTM. available from Gelco Information Network, Inc. of
Eden Prairie, Minn., can be used for expense report entry. The
Gelco software provides a Web-based software package in support of
general management of expense reporting, including functionality
suitable for the tasks of taking-in expense reports from each
representative and coordinating individual line-item entries of the
expense report (in the event that there is more than one expense in
any given expense report) with cash and credit card expenditure
information. However, additional steps are required to allocate and
apportion expenses related to visits with health care
professionals, as described below in connection with FIG. 2.
Optionally, expense management functionality can be integrated into
the territory management system in which case the expense reports
need not be imported into the territory management system, but
rather can have their contents available to the process at block
135, described next.
[0037] At block 135, the expense reports are parsed or otherwise
arranged by line-item entry so as to identify those expenses
associated with each particular representative. The expense
information, so organized or arranged, can be included in the data
download at block 140 to the remote machine of the representative.
Typically, the information that can be downloaded to the
representative's machine includes most or all of the information
captured in the expense report software being used, including the
date, amount, currency, location, vendor (e.g., "Ruby's BBQ"),
expense report confirmation number, a line number within the
report, an expense category description, a general category
description, an indication of the number of people associated with
the expense, and perhaps other attendee information.
[0038] At block 140, a download is made to the remote machine after
the establishing a communication link between the remote machine
and the central computer. In relevant part, the download updates
the database on the remote machine of the representative with the
expense information that has been imported into the territory
management system from the expense report processing software
(e.g., Gelco). The download can also include information sufficient
to revise the scope of the representative's territory, to provide
prescription-writing information on the prescribers in the
representative's territory, to add new prescribers, and to change
the user's role (e.g., from representative to district manager).
Such downloads are preferably conducted in accordance with
co-pending U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/867,945, filed on Nov. 30,
2006, entitled "Software, Systems and Methodologies For Realignment
of Remote Databases By A Central Database In Support of Field
Representative Territory Assignments," which is hereby incorporated
by reference in its entirety.
[0039] At a time during or after the download of data, optionally,
if there is expense information to be reconciled with particular
health care professionals, a notification can be provided, as
indicated at block 145, to the representative of this development.
Notifications can be provided at intervals, as may be deemed
appropriate, to encourage reconciliation within acceptable or
mandated time limits. A table or other data resource can be
available to the notification routine to determine how much time
has transpired since the date of the expense that is to be
reconciled and the present date for use in determining how many and
how often notifications are to be provided. The notifications
themselves can take on one or more of a variety of forms, including
without limitation dialog boxes, pop-up alerts, emails, and sounds.
The notifications are desirable because conventional expense
management software does not adequately address the allocation and
apportionment of expenses to HCPs so as to satisfy any constraints
or prohibitions. The process continues, with or without such
notifications, with the reconciliation of the expenses, described
below.
[0040] In addition to downloading expense information to the
representative's machine, the expense information can be forwarded
to a manager's machine, as indicated at block 150. For example, the
information can be forwarded (e.g., downloaded or communicated in
other ways) to a district manager whose responsibility is to
supervise and review the work of one or more representatives in one
or more territories. In this regard, the manager can view expense
details in one or more reports and take steps in furtherance of the
analysis of such data such as by exporting the information to a
spreadsheet, as indicated at block 155, before continuing with
whatever other tasks the manager may wish to do (as indicated in
the termination block).
[0041] Referring now to FIG. 2, a flow diagram illustrates a series
of steps 200 taken in furtherance of reconciling expenses from an
expense report so as to allocate the expense information among
customers such as HCPs, in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention. Either in response to a notification that there
are expenses to be reconciled, or navigation through the functions
provided by the territory management software, the user is able to
browse expense report information, as indicated at block 205,
through an interface provided by the software. FIG. 3A shows a
sample expense report summary 300 concerning spending activity by a
representative, which report can be accessed by interacting with
"tabs" graphically provided within the interface. The "tabs" are
software objects that operate as a metaphor for a conventional
folder. By click-selecting a tab, a new window or region is made
active or is brought to the foreground. In this case, the "Reports"
tab 305 brings to the foreground of a display of the
representative's machine a set of options, each selectable by their
own tab, including an "Expense Details" 310 option. Each expense
report submitted by the representative can be included in this
view, and, more particularly, any expense report that has line-item
expenses to be assigned to particular HCPs is included in this
view. Thus, in FIG. 3A, three line items from expense report
"427216198" are shown (lines 4, 9, and 2), and none of those
line-items has its expense assigned to an HCP ("Expense Status: No
HCP is assigned"), as of yet. Each line-item entry in can be edited
by selecting the "Edit" control 315, so as to allocate expenses to
and optionally apportion expenses across one or more HCPs. FIG. 3B,
for example, shows the report of FIG. 3A with an updated expense
status field 320 resulting from steps taken to assign the $54.71
expense to HCPs, as shown in cell 325, and as described next in
connection with FIGS. 2 and 4-6.
[0042] At block 210, a test is made by the territory management
software to determine whether the user has selected the edit
control 315. If the user has not selected that control, the process
continues with some other action, as indicated conceptually by the
terminator "other action." On the other hand, if the user has
selected the edit control 315, the process flow proceeds to block
215 to show an expense report detail 400 concerning the selected
transaction, as shown in FIG. 4A.
[0043] FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C illustrate a sample form for allocating
expenses among particular health care professionals at different
stages in the expense-allocation process. Referring first to FIG.
4A, the expense report detail form 400 can include some or all of
the fields illustrated in the expense report summary 300, and is
configured to permit the representative to assign health-care
provider information to a given expense. Each cell contains data
that is stored in the local database of the representative's
machine. The expense report detail form 400 can include several
regions for data entry including a customer-assignment region 410
and a customers-seen-on-transaction-day region 420, Optionally, a
customer search region 510, as shown in FIG. 5, can be displayed
(or closed/hidden using user-interface control 520) for use in
assigning HCP expenses.
[0044] Referring now to FIGS. 2, 4A and 5, the expense report
detail form 400 shows details of confirmation "427216198," line
number 4, of the expense report, as indicated at block 215. This
transaction was in the amount of $54.71, and region 410 has been
updated, so far, to make that expense applicable to one HCP,
namely, "Beth." The assignment of the expense to the HCP, in this
instance, is a result of a customer search using the search window
500, which is shown on the display of the representative's machine,
as indicated at block 220, and a selection of that first HCP. The
search region 510 in FIG. 5 has been configured to retrieve
customers of type "prescriber," who are on an "active" call list,
regardless of which state they are in, For this particular
representative, having a territory assigned to him and a local
database which provides information on customers within his or her
territory, that search results in 646 prescribers, as indicated in
the prescriber search results region 530. The prescribers located
by this search are listed and can be viewed by conventional
scrolling operations, as understood by those of skill in the
programming arts.
[0045] The first entry displayed in the region 530 is the
prescriber "Beth." That prescriber is obtained and added to the
customer-assignment region 410 by interacting with the user
interface. One manner of such interaction comprises pointing to the
row in the search results region 530 (as shown) to highlight that
prescriber and then and click-selecting that entry, as tested at
block 225. In some circumstances, the customer may have more than
one location within the representative's territory, in which case
the representative can be prompted to specify which location was
visited, as indicated at block 230. For example, this can occur
when the customer is a pharmacy with multiple locations, a doctor
with several offices, or a customer of another type having more
than one facility. The selection of which location applies can be
guided using information in the local database which can be
presented to the user along with controls for selecting the
appropriate office. FIG. 6 illustrates one such display 600, in
which several locations for the same prescriber ("Beth") and one
location is selectable from the group by using a radio button 610
and a submit button 620 (and a clear button 630 if the user wishes
to clear the radio-button selection), with the location information
640 being populated based on information in the local prescriber
database. The local subscriber database is preferably the same
database that is searched to locate subscribers in the
representative's territory, and is "local" in the sense that it is
available without any connection or connectivity to another machine
or network. Optionally, a primary location, if so-identified within
the local database, can be a default selection for the radio
buttons 610.
[0046] As shown in FIG. 4A, the expense has been allocated to
prescriber "Beth," as indicated in field 414. In other words, the
$54.71 expense in line-item 4 of confirmation "427216198," so far,
has been allocated solely to "Beth." The year-to-date expense
associated with that prescriber for all representatives that may
contact that customer is indicated in field 416, and, in this case,
the amount differs by $3.00. In this regard, it should be noted
that persons other than a company sales representative can have
expenses associated with a particular HCP, and the year-to-date
totals preferably reflect that fact. In the event of an error in
assigning a particular prescriber to an expense, the assignment can
be undone using the delete control 412. This particular expense
report line-item indicates that there were four attendees (may
include other attendee information in a suitable field that
documents the expense related to confirmation "427216198"). The
prescriber search results in region 530 can be reviewed in order to
locate the three other customers to whom the expense is to be
allocated, as described above, or the allocation of expenses can be
performed under guidance of the information in region 420, as
described next.
[0047] Referring now to FIGS. 2, 4A and 4B, in the event that the
expense is applicable to more than one customer, a second HCP or
any number of additional customers can be selected and a given
expense item can be allocated among multiple customers. In the
previous example, the expense of line-item 4 ("Ruby BBQ", $54.71 of
May 12, 2006) can be allocated among all four of the attendees
indicated in the underlying expense report (confirmation
"427216198") through use of region 420, if such region is
provided.
[0048] The region 420 preferably shows those customers (e.g.,
prescribers) for whom the representative completed a call note or
otherwise has indicated in the database a visit on the same date as
the expense in the expense detail report, as indicated at block
250. This selection of prescribers can be obtained by a database
query performed on the local database to locate entries in the
database that have data matching the expense date in the line-item
entry. Thus, in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the region 420 shows customers at
which site visits were made on May 12, 2006. If more multiple
customers are listed, a scroll control bar can be provided. If for
any reason a different date is to be viewed (e.g., a formal call
visit was made on May 12, 2006 but the expense was incurred or
processed on May 13, 2006), an expense date can be manually input
into text box 422 and submitted using a submit button 424, or a
calendar icon 426 can be provided which launches a date-selectable
calendar pop-up, as is now conventional in the programming arts.
Block 255 tests whether another date has been selected, and the
contents of the region 420 can be updated to show completed calls
on any newly-selected date. Regardless of whether the date is
changed, the region 420 is populated with information arranged to
permit review and selection of customers that were visited or
otherwise associated with a particular date. Any entry in the
region 420 can be selected through conventional interaction with
the interface, such as a click-selection so as to cause the expense
to be assigned to a prescriber and optionally apportioned in region
410 across any additional customers. At block 255, a test is made
to determine whether any customer has been selected.
[0049] If no customer has been selected, then the process loops to
handle any other action. On the other hand, if a customer has been
selected, then the process flow proceeds through blocks 230-240, as
described next by way of example.
[0050] Referring now to FIG. 4B, that figure shows prescribers
Roger and Janet as having been selected from the region 420 of FIG.
4A. This causes those prescribers to be included in the region 410
of FIG. 413 as having the $54.71 expense at Ruby BBQ allocated to
them. If any of the selected customers has more than one location,
the process at block 230 is performed. In the event that there is
more than one customer assigned as having the expense as applicable
to him or her, then the expenses are allocated across all such
customers, as indicated at block 235, preferably. The allocation
can be performed generally evenly across such customers such that
within an acceptable rounding error (pennies, dollars), the amounts
are the same. Preferably, the allocation of a single expense entry
occurs automatically in response to any selection and, hence, any
addition of a customer to the region 410, and also automatically in
response to any deletion of a customer from the region 410. In
addition, it is preferred that any year-to-date spending total
allocated to any given customer be automatically calculated and
populated into the local database for upload to the central
computer (step 115) when the opportunity arises. The allocations to
HCPs are committed by updating the local database.
[0051] In the example of FIG. 4B, the $54.71 expense is shown as
having been allocated among three attendees (Beth, Roger and
Janet), and each attendee has been allocated one-third of the
original expense amount, namely, $18.24 of the total expense. The
expense reported in line-item 4 remains unchanged, that is, it
remains $54.71. Also, records including the local database are
updated, as indicated at block 240. In part, this will include an
update to the expense status field 320 of the transaction from
"No-HCP Assigned" to "HCP Assigned" (compare FIGS. 3A and 3B).
[0052] Referring now to FIG. 4C, a fourth prescriber has had the
line-item expense of confirmation "427216198" assigned to her.
Specifically, "Michelle" has been added to the list of prescribers
for whom this expense is to be assigned, and as a result of
processing at least blocks 215, 225, 235, and 240, the expense is
now allocated among four prescribers, with each prescriber being
allocated one-fourth of the original expense amount, namely, $13.68
of the total expense. The interaction of the user and the machine,
and the processing that take place during this step are no
different than what transpired in connection with the allocation
shown in FIG. 4B. However, FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C collectively
illustrate an optional, but preferable feature, in that the region
420 can be dynamically updated so as to only display those
customers to whom an expense was not already allocated. Thus, in
FIG. 4B, the customer region 420 excludes Beth even if a call was
paid that same date to Beth, because that prescriber has already
been assigned to the expense. Likewise, in FIG. 4B, prescribers
"Roger" and "Janet" have been removed from the region 420, despite
their being a completed-call associated with that transaction date
(note, they were included in region 420, as shown in FIG. 4A, until
they were assigned to the expense). Finally, in FIG. 4C, the
selections have been processed and the display has been refreshed
so that region 420 now omits prescriber Michelle because she has
been assigned to the expense and placed in region 410. Stated
another way, a prescriber assigned into the region 410 is
preferably not included in the selections available in region 420
so that the region 420 can guide users in a manner to reduce
duplicate selections of the same prescriber.
[0053] The allocation can be done in other ways than as suggested
by the sample input form 400. For example, information input into
an expense report such as the number and name of the attendees can
result in a proposed allocation which the representative can
confirm, after ensuring the correct assignments have been proposed
and after a location for the allocated prescriber is entered or
confirmed.
[0054] With reference now to FIG. 7, an output interface display
component 700 has the call notes entry form provided with a field
710 which informs the representative of the year-to-date ("YTD")
spending on that HCP. This can assist the representative in staying
in compliance with state limits on expenditures with individual
health care professionals, and is particularly beneficial when more
than one representative from the same manufacturer has paid a call
to that prescriber, directly or indirectly, by visiting the same
hospital or medical group and having apportioned expenses to that
same prescriber. FIG. 7 illustrates the YTD spending on a given
prescriber in the context of call notes captured after a site
visit, as indicated by the "call" tab 720, however, YTD spending
can be provided in a variety of interface display components,
including without limitation, as part of another form or data
presentation in association with a view of any appointments or any
calendar entries that concern that particular prescriber, or as
part of a pop-up when the user hovers over or clicks on a field
associated with that prescriber. DHTML, XML, AJAX, and similar
command constructs can be used to pull YTD information from the
local database and make it available for presentation to the user
in response to an event such as a mouse-over or a mouse-click.
[0055] With reference again to FIG. 1 and also to FIGS. 8A and 8B,
expenses captured and tracked by the territory management system
can also include processing or review by managers assigned to
particular representatives. A district manager, whose
responsibility is to supervise and review the work of one or more
representatives in one or more territories, can request or receive
one or more expense report entries, as indicated at block 150, as
well as other information such as the call-notes associated with
expense report entries. It may be that the call notes have adverse
event information associated with them, and a protocol can be
exercised in response to the receipt of that information, as more
fully described in the aforementioned co-pending AE Capture
disclosure. Of relevance to this application, however, the manager
can be provided with an expense review form 800, such as shown in
FIG. 8A, which is suitable for use by a representative (by
selecting an appropriate tab from the reports menu 305), a district
manager, or another supervisor. The expense review form 800
arranges by territory ("geography") the expense reports submitted
during particular weeks, as well as a status (submitted or not
submitted, indicated here with a YIN data entry in the HCP status
field 810). The user of this report can view all reports, or just
those that are overdue. In FIG. 8B, overdue reports are shown for a
particular territory (e.g., a particular representative) and a
particular week. In this case, there are four overdue entries, all
associated with line-items of the same expense report submission.
The manager, upon review of this report, can take steps to prompt
the representative so as to change the expense status from No-HCP
Assigned to HCP Assigned, as described above.
[0056] Preferably, protocols can be established with enforcement
through notifications to interested persons, such as the
notifications to the field representatives described in connection
with block 145, to ensure the timely assignment of expenses to HCPs
within a prescribed window. Such notifications can issue, for
example, if a prescribed period of time has transpired from the
expense date of a given expense report line-item entry. The
notifications comprise alerts which can take on a variety of forms
including, without limitation, pop-up and other dialog boxes,
instant messages, emails, calendar notifications, sounds, or a
combination of the foregoing. Optionally, the expense records can
be restricted after, say, two months, to not permit changes to any
prior or absent entries.
[0057] Similarly, notifications can be provided and reports can be
generated which serve to alert the representative, his or her
district manager, if any, and other interested persons of spending
amounts in a territory. These notifications and reports can be
informed by state and other regulations within the territory to
better ensure that spending limits are constrained to acceptable
levels. In one implementation of this feature, the year-to-date
spending can be shown in relation to the maximum permissible
spending (e.g., if there is a $50.00 per year limit, a spending of
$37.18 can be displayed as "$37.18/$50.00" or as "$37.18, 74% of
limit"). In the same or another implementation, notifications can
be generated and displayed on the representative's machine or
communicated to another location when a spending limit threshold is
reached for a particular HCP or other customer (e.g., send a
notification once 80% of a limit is reached). This can be
particularly helpful for representatives that, mid-year, acquire
HCPs that were previously in other representative's territories, or
who have HCPs that have had qualified expenses registered by other
persons at the company, or who have HCPs in more than one state and
have different spending limit constraints applicable to different
groups of HCPs in their territory. Optionally, the user, whether a
representative or a manager, can inspect the data and generate
other analytics to discern spending patterns of representatives on
prescribers, prescriber habits in view of spending by
representatives, overall spending in a state or other region, and
the like.
[0058] Optionally, the user interface can include a selectable link
that can provide the representative with a summary of relevant
guidelines throughout the country or his or her territory,
including any local, state, or federal restrictions on expenses
incurred in connection with dealing with HCPs, any company
guidelines or requirements concerning expenses with HCPs, and any
other information of pertinence to the assignment of expenses to
HCPs due to the representative's conduct of his or her duties.
[0059] In the foregoing description, certain flow diagrams have
been shown and processes described in relation to those flow
diagrams which provide a reference for discussion purposes. In an
actual implementation of the methods of the present invention, the
steps can comprise event-driven routines that can run in parallel
and can be launched and executed other than as shown by the simple
depiction in the flow diagrams. For example, a number of customer
selections can be made or obtained at block 225 through the user
interface before any allocation is made at block 235. In short, the
particular order of the steps in the flow diagrams is illustrative
of the invention, but not limiting of the various permutations that
can be achieved in a given embodiment. Accordingly, it is the
performance of the steps recited in the claims appended below which
is pertinent, and not the order of operation of the steps
themselves.
* * * * *