How Can Drug Companies Ensure Employee Training?
Doctors also don’t have time to attend seminars, so they can ramp up their knowledge through eLearning bites. The most distinct advantage of using eLearning is that doctors can be shown how to do procedures through simulations. Now, there are new rules introduced by WHO, which are known as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Pharmaceutical companies must be aware of these rules. As per these rules, drugs must be manufactured following all the quality parameters of the FDA. If there are faults in production, there might be some problems with products that are not discovered in the final testing stage. Also, GMP focuses on all five aspects of manufacturing, which include premises, people, processes, procedures (e.g., records and paperwork), and products. Since it includes people also, they should maintain all hygiene standards while they are working. Pharma eLearning can be useful for them in learning about such standards. The FDA has also prescribed a checklist for pharmaceutical companies that they can use to conduct audits to check whether GMP practices are being followed or not. Moreover, the following practices are included in these rules.
GMP Guidelines For Drug And Food Manufacturers
- Written rules for workers
As per these rules, workers must follow the standard operating procedures, which must be established for them. Workers should be able to get access to the standard operating procedures through the document management system of an LMS. - Regular checks
There should be a check kept on the adherence of written procedures. If any deviation is found, it should be validated. - Clear instructions
Instructions should be specified clearly in a coherent language. - Easy execution
Workers in the pharmaceutical industry must be able to execute the documentation provided to them. - Complete records
There should be precise and accurate records of the manufacturing process. Such records prove that the steps included in documentation were followed and hence, products would be of expected quality. If records of any process show some deviations, they should be checked. - Records should be stored
Records should be stored so that the history of a batch of manufactured medicines can be rechecked to investigate any issues. Such records should be understandable. Hence, pharma eLearning can ensure that workers of pharmaceutical companies know how to maintain such records. - No product damage during distribution
There should be nothing hampering the quality of products during their distribution. This is important because the product quality can be adversely affected during their transportation. - Products should be called back from shops
Apart from this, it's also important to check if there any flaws are found in a sample. If yes, then the entire batch can be withdrawn from sale. All these steps to ensure that the wrong product does not reach the customer are taught during pharma eLearning. - Customer complaints checked
If customers make any complaints about products, the reasons for this should be thoroughly investigated and hence, measures must be taken to ensure that such mistakes won't happen in the future.
Companies can follow the following measures through pharma eLearning and prevent any flaws in their products by ensuring GMP is followed:
- Following the rules set forth for them
Although users have access to an LMS, there must also be access rights so that no unauthorized person accesses it. Apart from this, the access rights must be based on the competency of users so they don’t get access to records that are not related to their job duties. - Complete records of work
Such records are also important so that medical industry employees can be checked to determine if they have gone through the records. If any user accesses any medical records, they have to put their signature at the time of such access. Apart from this, they also have to mention their reason for such access. If users access any medical equipment, they have to record their usage.
The medical systems of hospitals contain a lot of information, and keeping records is handy because you can check who made changes and when.