How Are The Medical And Pharmaceutical Industries Being Affected By Data Protection Laws?

The medical and pharmaceutical industries are increasingly coming under scrutiny for how they handle and analyse peoples data day by day. This has led to pharmaceutical companies using organisations such as Formedix to manage their meta data and data results from clinical trials.

Why Is Data Important?

Data is important for a wide variety of different reasons overall. One of the main reasons why data is so important is data is unique to individuals and is a right/form of information which is enshrined in law. Data is stored by millions of businesses and governments on a daily basis but they are all subject to strict data compliance laws.

Another key reason why data is so important is that it is often in the media spotlight due to data scandals and mismanagement. This had led to an increased public focus on how organisations handle their data and how this can affect them in their day to day lives.

For example a data leak from a large organisation such as a bank could potentially lead to people becoming victims of fraud or theft through no direct fault of their own.

How Do Pharmaceutical Companies And Clinical Trial Companies Manage Their Data

Both of these organisations need to abide by strict data structure in order for their trials and research to be approved by governing bodies. One of the most common forms of data regulation in the clinical trials sector is cdisc standards. This stands for clinical data interchange standards consortium.

This organisation was setup to ensure that the overall standards of data being used within clinical trials was high quality and accurate. It set out a set of procedures which should be followed to ensure that data can be captured accurately and effectively.

How Are These Organisations Managing Their Data?

Increasingly , there has been a spike in the number of medical and pharmaceutical organisations using metadata management companies or reverting to upgrading their systems.

There has been a number of influencing factors that have driven this change but primarily regulations within those respective industries. The effectiveness of metadata management companies cannot be understated. Most companies that have used their services have found them to be invaluable and overall highly effective within their role.

How Have Clinical Trials Changed?

As well as the way data has changed in terms of usage over many years, so to has the overall way in which clinical trials are conducted overall. One of the most fundamental changes which has been seen in the overall clinical trials process is the increased use of computers and AI (artificial Intelligence)

This has led to the entire process becoming significantly more efficient and faster as well. However always having these systems in place can be expensive and incurs overall running costs.

How Are These Industries Adapting To Change Overall

There are a variety of different ways in which the medical and pharmaceutical industries are reacting and adapting to changes in technology as well as legislation.

One of the most effective ways in which both industries have been adapting to significant changes is through conferences and networking. Organisations that share information and skills with each other have found that exchanging knowledge has greatly enhanced their overall abilities to perform well within their respective roles.