Those are important considerations in adopting improved, comprehensive compliance technologies, but there are others. For example, though it was intended primarily to assist in Medicare/Medicaid issues, Model N's product can also contribute to Sarbanes-Oxley compliance: "It allows companies to get their arms around the revenue lifecycle, which extends beyond the government regulatory application to managing pricing contracts, rebates, and charge-backs and looking at a reproducible, auditable record of what has been done in terms of managing their overall revenue," Zocchi says.

In the long run, though, once compliance has been achieved, the ability to analyze government pricing in depth will become a valuable business capability. "These resources can be used much more productively in terms of looking at the implications of government business and of policies that I apply," Zocchi says. "What will the impact be to my business if I increase my government business? Or what's going to happen when Medicare comes along? The technology becomes a tool that can be much more productive in managing the businesses going forward."

Companies still have a long way to go in adapting technology, says Life Science Insights' Hanover. "I still see companies where everything is done on paper in files, with handwritten signatures. There's a lot more work to be done. I hear estimates from CIOs that as high as 20 percent of their budgets go for compliance—so there's a lot of opportunity for cost savings. But you have to apply sensible business practices to it. There are lots of ways to interpret some of the guidelines, and in some cases, companies have almost gone too far."