Conservative Rules: Guidepoint has implemented conservative rules to which every Advisor must agree before a consultation may take place. These rules are designed to provide our Advisors with clear boundaries and they directly address sensitive subjects such as clinical trials, employers, and competitors. For greater detail, you may review a Summary of Key Rules or our Terms and Conditions.

Instruction: We instruct our Advisors about compliance through several tools, including an interactive Advisor Compliance Tutorial that explains our Advisors’ obligations and provides a series of questions that require our Advisors to apply our rules to different fact patterns. Advisors must affirm that they have completed the tutorial upon joining our network and must represent prior to each consultation that they have reviewed the Advisor Compliance Tutorial within the 12 months prior to the consultation. Additional training tools include answers to our Frequently Asked Questions.

Code of Conduct: Guidepoint strives to conduct business in an ethical and honest manner and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. The principles stated in Guidepoint’s Code of Conduct apply to all aspects of Guidepoint’s business. It is crucial that all Advisors, along with our employees and business partners, recognize the roles they play as critical participants in fulfilling our commitment to compliance and integrity.

Background Checks: We run periodic background checks through a global risk intelligence service on all new Advisors and a substantial sampling of Advisors who have performed consultations through us. This check encompasses, among other things, criminal histories in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions, as well as U.S. FDA debarment actions and the GSA’s Excluded Parties List System.

Employer Opt-Out: Guidepoint will not accept as Advisors the employees of a company, or its subsidiaries, that Guidepoint believes bars its employees from participating in the network. To support this policy, when Guidepoint learns of any such prohibition, it records the company in the Guidepoint Employer Database Registry. This registry list automated into Guidepoint’s IT platform to ensure Advisors identified in our database as employees of companies on the list are not permitted to participate in consultations.

Corporate Data Feed: Guidepoint uses a third-party corporate information service that feeds data, including companies’ affiliates, into our IT platform to help us apply compliance restrictions.

Project Manager Screen: At the commencement of each project, a Project Manager reviews the request to determine whether the experts and information sought comply with Guidepoint’s rules. Project Managers may request additional information from clients and enlist Guidepoint’s Legal and Compliance Departments, as needed.

Client Customized Screens: A client may request that additional custom controls be applied to their projects. Such controls may include tailored compliance screening questions, client approval of experts chosen or required Advisor affirmations.

Compliance Reconfirmation for Every Project: Advisors must affirm in advance of each project that they will conduct that consultation in conformity with the Terms and Conditions.

Automation of Our Compliance Controls: Our proprietary IT platform will not permit Project Managers to move to the next step in the project workflow until they have completed all compliance screens and obtained any necessary client compliance approvals.

Advisors Paid for Compliance: Our Advisors are obligated to terminate any consultation in which they believe they are being solicited to violate our compliance rules. If they terminate early for this reason, we still pay them for the full consultation.

Systematic Review and Follow-up:  We employ a team of full-time compliance professionals. This team reviews a sampling of projects at different stages, searching for issues that bear further examination. Where appropriate, they follow-up with additional inquiry. Advisors who violate our rules can –and have been – removed from our service.

Record Keeping: We have made a substantial investment in a proprietary IT platform that enables review of projects at all stages, and provides a complete audit trail of requests and consultations.

Client Project Interface: Our client interface allows client compliance personnel to monitor usage and project details in real-time and download consultation information as required.