What is an EDC system or Electronic Data Capture System?

An EDC system is a software for storing patient data that are collected during clinical trials. Usually the data is first recorded on paper, and then transcribed into the system and stored in an electronic case report form (eCRF). Today almost all clinical trials are using EDC software to replace paper records with electronic records. EDC systems are being adopted by sponsors, contract research organizations (CROs), and sites to carry out both simple and complex trials in all phases of research. Though there are a lot of EDC vendors, a few organizations build their own in-house system. Most EDC systems offer diverse features, but generally EDC software is designed to rationalize data collection.

The advantages of EDC systems over paper records are:

1     Data security
2.   Easy access to the data
3.   Organization
4.    Accuracy
5.    Compliance
6.    Cheaper

How to choose investigators who can be compliant with FDA inspectional requirements for electronic data capture and direct data entry? How to identify study data elements that require hard copy source documentation? How to design your e CRF to address the origination, authorization, and signature inspectional requirements To get answers for all these questions attend the webinar FDA Electronic Data Capture Guidance - What is the impact on Investigator Site Inspectional Source Record Requirements?

Deficits in Telecommuting

Telecommuting is a typical arrangement by which an employee works away from the worksite (such as working from home or library, or business center) for a specific time of period.

The purpose of the Telecommuting concept is to create flexible working conditions to employees to help them integrate their work lives and personal lives more effectively and better manage issues such as care giving, commuting, community service and continuing education. Successful telecommuting arrangements serve the needs both of individual employees and their unit/departments. The focus of the arrangement is on meeting operational needs and job performance.  It is mandatory to have a written agreement clarifying both parties’ expectations for telecommuting purpose. 

To learn more on what are the legal risks involved in "telecommuting" and employees working from home? How do you protect safety sensitive information when employees are working outside the office? How do you keep up with “hours worked” for those who are not exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act? Attend this webinar Legal Risks & Issues in the Virtual and Telecommuting Working Environment

Customer Centricity in Healthcare Industry

Off late like any other industry the healthcare organizations also started to recognize that a consumer-driven model of care has become the latest norm. As per the consumer psychology, they make the buying decisions based on how they connect with a brand or company, and this is applicable to even the health care industry, for example if a patient is made to wait or he/she do not understand how his/her bill was calculated, they will move to other organization for treatment.

Here are four tips to ensure customer centricity in healthcare industry.

• 1     Provide better access- Patients expect healthcare services to be more accessible from home or wherever they are. Healthcare providers must provide more flexibility, home visits and telemedicine facility.
• 2  No more waiting in queues—It irks a patient to wait to see the doctor in spite of obtaining an appointment. In order to fix this issue the healthcare organization must work robust on scheduling the appointments and treating the patients with courtesy and giving them the privileges of a valued customer.
• 3    Revamping cost- The key objectives of any patient are better service at less cost. To deliver these two an organization must work on a more effective model that brings down the cost and provide value for money services by enhancing the quality for the target patient customers.
• 4   Seek experts help-If the health care personnel do not have ample expertise to lead an organization to such a wide transformation, he must seek the help of an expert to ensure support in delivering a more customer-centric experience on the right path.

To learn more on what and why customer centricity is important to healthcare? Why have we moved from provider-centered focus to patient-centered focus? The impact that a patient-centered focus has on healthcare operations? Attend this Webinar Customer Centricity and Quality Management in Healthcare

Dos and Don’ts in presenting a Property Insurance Claim

You have met with property damage to your home or business. What to do now? How to present an insurance claim? If you already have an insurance policy, then that insurance policy is a contract between you and the insurance company. It defines what are the things to be done and what should not be done after you have had a claim. If you fail to comply with the policy’s terms, it may end up in your claim not being paid. Most people go for a home insurance policy during the closing process, without actually looking at its terms and conditions. You realize many aspects of the policy only when you are forced to make a claim. Here are a few tips for making a successful property insurance claim. 

Dos

1. Read your policy thoroughly before submitting a claim.
2. Secure your property to prevent additional damage
3. Notify your insurance company/agent
4. Find a temporary workplace/housing
5. Get professional help to overcome the red tape
6. Create a detailed inventory of damaged property

Don'ts

1. Do not throw anything away
2. Do not begin repairs until you get the insurance company’s approval
3. Never assume you have to use the insurance company’s vendors
4. Never allow your settlement to be paid to other parties
5. Never respond after replacing/repairing the property

For more info attend this webinar How to Successfully Present a Property Insurance Claim

Date: Friday, 30 October 2015 | Time: 11:30 AM PDT, 02:30 PM EDT | Duration: 90 Minutes. If you cannot make it on the scheduled day, you can always buy our recorded session of the same anytime.

Methods for Financial Statement Analysis

The huge number that appears on the financial statement of a company could be intimidating to the investors. But analyzing the financial statements will open a goldmine of information in front of you. Companies use financial statements to disclose information regarding financial performance. These statements could be used for analyzing whether to make investments in a company or not.

What are the key methods for analyzing financial statements? There are two main methods of analyzing a financial statement the first method is the use of horizontal and vertical methods and the second method is the use of ratios.

Horizontal analysis involves the comparison of financial information over a series of reporting periods, whereas vertical analysis method means the proportional analysis of a financial statement. This means every line term on a financial statement is stated as a percentage of gross sales, each line item on a balance sheet is considered as a percentage of total assets.

The second method for financial statement analysis is the use of many types of ratios. Ratios are used to calculate the relative size of one number in a relation to another. Once the ratio is calculated you can compare it with the same ratio calculated for a prior period or that is based on a certain industry average, to judge if analyzing financial statements is the use of many kinds of ratios. You use ratios to the company is performing in accordance with expectations.

To understand more on the different types of financial statements and what their intended purpose is, how to identify key operating trends and prepare financial ratios on a company's financial statements, the importance of reading the footnotes that accompany financial statements and provide an understanding of how these footnotes often hide important messages attend this webinar How to Analyze Financial Statements and Uncover the Key Trends and Hidden Messages

Identification and Evaluation of Environmental Aspects

http://www.onlinecompliancepanel.com/webinar/RecentUpdates-ISO14001-501077/OCT-2015-SM

Environmental aspect of the product could be anything for example it could be the product packaging or the recyclability of the product at the end of its life cycle. According to ISO 14001, an organization must identify environmental aspects and determine those aspects that can have considerable impact to the environment. Keep a register on general environmental aspects, which is regularly updated.

Environmental aspects could be classified as direct and indirect. In order to identify the environmental aspects, a person must study how the activities and services of an organization are affecting the environment.  While identifying environmental aspects the elements which are usually considered are missions, releases to land and water, raw materials used, natural resources and impacts on the biodiversity.

Other vital techniques that could be used to evaluate environmental aspects are value chain method, materials identification method, value chain method, process flow method and value chain method.

To learn more on Recent updates on ISO 14001 attend this webinar Recent updates on ISO 14001

How to Optimize Excel Charts

Optimizing Excel Charts
Microsoft Excel Charts have evolved over the years. The functionality of the charts in Excel 2007 is almost similar to Excel 2010, while chart functionality in Excel 2013 and 2016 are almost same.
There are a number of techniques that could be used to optimize, automate, and tweak Excel charts. Creating and working with Excel charts-which can convey much more than just a sheet filled with numbers-is easy. Because charts display data in a variety of ways, using the most appropriate chart type and format enables you to display your data in the best meaningful way.

David H. Ringstrom teaches how to streamline creating and managing charts, and explores nuances that often slow Excel users down through the best selling webinar Optimizing Excel Charts