Outcome Health’s skies are finally clear. The Department of Justice (DOJ) decided not to prosecute the point-of-care marketing company after more than a year investigating misconduct by now-former executives and employees.
DOJ inked the non-prosecution agreement with Outcome not only because the accused employees are gone, but also because of Outcome’s overhaul of its compliance and campaign-reporting policies and restitution to clients.
Outcome will not face any fines or penalties. The company has already paid out more than $65.5 million in make-good with clients. It will also maintain $4.5 million in a fund for any potential future claims, said CEO Matt McNally.
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“This was one of the final hurdles that obviously was of concern to some of the manufacturers that haven’t come back to our platform to date,” McNally said. “A lot of clients have come back and a lot of clients wanted to see the new compliance firsthand, but there were certain manufacturers who wanted to wait to understand what was going to happen with the DOJ.”
He added, “For us, this was one of the final pages of the past and previous administration that we are very happy to turn.”
In the day since the agreement was announced, supportive messages from clients and others have been pouring in, McNally said, and he anticipates that more pharma clients will return to the in-office advertising platform.
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It’s a welcome change for Outcome after two years of turmoil that began in the fall of 2017 with accusations in the media about some employees misleading advertisers. The allegations spawned a lawsuit and put the company’s finances in turmoil.
Outcome has since worked to rebuild relationships with pharma partners, investors and its own employees. The effort has included new executives, new directors on its board and investors.
Outcome recently launched “In These Rooms,” a digital and social media campaign that shows the joyful, mundane and heartbreaking experiences of patients in doctors’ offices and waiting rooms to highlight the importance of those spaces in peoples’ lives.
