Ethics & Compliance
Beyond the various regulations and ethical standards in the health sector that Nextep adheres to, the firm asks all its people, partners and experts to commit to working in compliance with the regulations and the firm’s values while following a certain number of precepts such as for instance:
– It is strictly prohibited to offer any financial or other benefits to a member of a public authority, an elected representative or a health professional, in order to influence his/her judgment or decision and may be subject to legal action by Nextep against the persons concerned;
– If the intervention of a health care professional (or affiliate [1]) is required, the manager responsible for the engagement towards the customer shall transmit the information and elements required under the obligation to report to the customer so that the latter can undertake the required actions;
– In order to avoid any conflict of interest, we take the utmost care to inform our customers when we have engagements that may be subject to competitive overlaping areas. We also want to have a 3‑month waiting period between two missions that may be subject to a conflict of interest. Finally, in order to fulfill our engagements with due regard to the privacy of our customers, we also compartmentalize our teams when they have to work at the same time with customers who have competitive activities in other areas than that dealt with by our teams.
Finally, in all our contracts, the services provided by Nextep are subject to general conditions and terms of sale including in particular:
Deadlines: Nextep systematically respects the deadlines to which it is contractually bound (provided that the elements required to fulfill the engagement have been transmitted by the customer).
Fees: Our prices and rates are transparent and negotiated in advance with our customers. Our services are defined at the beginning of the contract before starting the engagements. In the case of lump sum packages of services, a volume of activities is defined beforehand for a fixed amount.
We do not apply any success fees (variable part linked to the result) in our lobbying or public affairs activities to avoid any risk of partially carrying over this remuneration on our public interlocutors.
If the number of hours or days that has been originally defined is exceeded, invoicing will be calculated according to the number of additional days [2], or on the basis of an amendment. Any excess fees are therefore systematically reviewed with the customer.
Confidentiality: The information transmitted by the customer within the scope of the services entrusted to Nextep is considered as confidential by nature, unless it is freely accessible or unless it has been previously disclosed to the public. Nextep is responsible for ensuring that its employees, partners and possible subcontractors maintain strict confidentiality.
Liability: Beyond the seriousness and commitment of its consultants to fulfilling their engagements, Nextep holds a professional liability insurance policy for any consequences that may directly result from its professional activities.
These general conditions and terms in full can be consulted on our website: www.nextep-health.com .
[1] The act targets the following beneficiaries: health professionals, health care associations, students pursuing a health career, health system user associations, health establishments, foundations, learned societies, consultancy firms in this field, media, prescription assistance software suppliers, organizations and practitioners in the initial training of health professionals.
[2] At the applicable rate based on the number of days per year
