Excellent points, and I think more can be said about the many business benefits that companies realize when they implement a strong aggregate spend program. In addition to those you mentioned, I would also list KOL Management. An improved and centralized view of the company's various activities with the same Key Opinion Leaders will result in a better ability to coordinate these interactions and show that one hand knows what the other hand is doing. Heavily-used KOLs will notice the difference and they will appreciate it.

On another point, you are correct that Medical Device and Diagnostic companies may have laid less groundwork in this area than their pharma colleagues, but this can often be a blessing. Having worked with 8 such companies preparing them to support the Sunshine Act, I found that the ones that were starting from scratch had fewer issues migrating from legacy processes and could start with a clean slate. There are factors that are unique to Device & Diagnostic companies, such as the need to report a loan of a device for product evaluation if kept by the customer or prospect for more than 90 days.

Michael Johngren
Parallax Consulting
http://www.parallaxweb.com