8 Hassles Medical Device Companies Can Avoid with Web Document Management Software
Marci L. Crane
June 07, 2008
There is no way to circumvent two important facts:
Web document management software can save medical device companies significant amounts of time (hundreds or even thousands of annual hours);
Web document management software can provide a healthy and relatively fast ROI for medical device companies.
To most medical device professionals, these facts may be as obvious as the sun at 12:00pm, but perhaps even these professionals may have failed to consider up close the multitude of hassles that can be avoided with web document management software.
6 Hassles that Can be Avoided with Web Document Management in Medical Device Environments
#1: Downtime
Although "downtime" can be pleasant time, it´s never a good experience spending an entire afternoon looking for the latest version of an SOP that was supposed to be signed and sent to the QA department three weeks ago.
#2: Disconnects with Training Procedures
What happens when an SOP or a protocol manual is significantly edited? Are the changes always effectively communicated to all affected employees? Many times necessary SOP and other document related training simply doesn´t happen which results in plenty of headaches, back tracking and more wasted revenue. Medical device professionals should search for a web document management solution that automatically triggers a change control process when essential documents are edited.
#3: Walking
Walking can be an enjoyable activity but when medical device employees are walking form office to office routing SOPs and trying to collaborate on essential documentation hundreds (if not thousands) of hours are wasted. After all, a medical device marketing application submitted one year (or even 6 months) earlier or later than planned can result if very significant profits or very significant losses.
#4: Document Version Mishaps
Automated document version control is sufficient reason for an investment in web document management. It is in the loss of final version documents or in the process of mistakenly revising old versions of a document that medical device companies waste a significant amount of time. Medical device companies should search for a web document management solution with sophisticated document version control and serious security features.
#5: In-House Validation
Okay, so validation isn´t exactly a benefit of web document management software (it´s actually a tedious pain) but if medical device professionals search for the right software solution, some software vendors actually provide validation scripts, services and validation consultation which means in-house validation can be avoided altogether.
#6: Learning Curves
Learning how to use a variety of various process management, CAPA, quality audit, or document control solutions in one working environment can become confusing. Medical device professionals should search for solutions that can be launched from a single platform.
#7: Approval Paperwork
What´s more tedious that the prospect of signing off on a stack of paperwork? Medical device professionals should search for a web document management solution that allows signoffs to occur electronically upon the receipt of a notification delivered via email.
#8: Change Tracking Woes
It´s common for medical device professionals to spend too much time trying to decide what document changes were made, when they were made and by whom. Medical device professionals can avoid change tracking woes by investing in a web document management solution that tracks documents and all document versions from start to finish.
Conclusion
For medical device companies, investing in a web document management solution create a series of benefits which are felt throughout the entire company.
Marci Crane is a copywriter for MasterControl in Salt Lake City, Utah. To learn more about web document management, please feel free to contact a MasterControl representative.
To most medical device professionals, these facts may be as obvious as the sun at 12:00pm, but perhaps even these professionals may have failed to consider up close the multitude of hassles that can be avoided with web document management software.
6 Hassles that Can be Avoided with Web Document Management in Medical Device Environments
#1: Downtime
Although "downtime" can be pleasant time, it´s never a good experience spending an entire afternoon looking for the latest version of an SOP that was supposed to be signed and sent to the QA department three weeks ago.
#2: Disconnects with Training Procedures
What happens when an SOP or a protocol manual is significantly edited? Are the changes always effectively communicated to all affected employees? Many times necessary SOP and other document related training simply doesn´t happen which results in plenty of headaches, back tracking and more wasted revenue. Medical device professionals should search for a web document management solution that automatically triggers a change control process when essential documents are edited.
#3: Walking
Walking can be an enjoyable activity but when medical device employees are walking form office to office routing SOPs and trying to collaborate on essential documentation hundreds (if not thousands) of hours are wasted. After all, a medical device marketing application submitted one year (or even 6 months) earlier or later than planned can result if very significant profits or very significant losses.
#4: Document Version Mishaps
Automated document version control is sufficient reason for an investment in web document management. It is in the loss of final version documents or in the process of mistakenly revising old versions of a document that medical device companies waste a significant amount of time. Medical device companies should search for a web document management solution with sophisticated document version control and serious security features.
#5: In-House Validation
Okay, so validation isn´t exactly a benefit of web document management software (it´s actually a tedious pain) but if medical device professionals search for the right software solution, some software vendors actually provide validation scripts, services and validation consultation which means in-house validation can be avoided altogether.
#6: Learning Curves
Learning how to use a variety of various process management, CAPA, quality audit, or document control solutions in one working environment can become confusing. Medical device professionals should search for solutions that can be launched from a single platform.
#7: Approval Paperwork
What´s more tedious that the prospect of signing off on a stack of paperwork? Medical device professionals should search for a web document management solution that allows signoffs to occur electronically upon the receipt of a notification delivered via email.
#8: Change Tracking Woes
It´s common for medical device professionals to spend too much time trying to decide what document changes were made, when they were made and by whom. Medical device professionals can avoid change tracking woes by investing in a web document management solution that tracks documents and all document versions from start to finish.
Conclusion
For medical device companies, investing in a web document management solution create a series of benefits which are felt throughout the entire company.
Marci Crane is a copywriter for MasterControl in Salt Lake City, Utah. To learn more about web document management, please feel free to contact a MasterControl representative.
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