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Course "Effective and Efficient Internal and Supplier Quality System Auditing for Medical Devices" has been pre-approved by RAPS as eligible for up to 12 credits towards a participant's RAC recertification upon full completion. Overview: Do you want to understand how to do efficient and effective internal and supplier audits that meet all the requirements of your external auditors, but also add value to your company? Are you confused by all the requirements and guidance documents for medical device quality management systems and are tired of wading through all the regulatory language they contain. This course is for those who will do internal or supplier audits, manage an audit process for these or other company audits. This course will provide you with an easy to understand presentation on the auditing process as well as the requirements you will need to audit under ISO 13485 and the FDA Quality System Regulation (cGMP) Both FDA Quality System Regulation (QSR) and ISO 13485 require that companies do internal audits. However, because the FDA does not look at the content of internal audits, some companies do not get feedback on the true effectiveness of their internal audit system from the FDA during FDA Inspections. ISO 13485 auditors do look at internal audits, but are most concerned that you define a process that meets the requirements of the standard and are following your process. Both require that you define Auditor training is required, but this sometimes just requires reading the company's procedure, although most external auditors will look for more than this. Do you need to train new auditors for yours medical device quality management system or to audit your suppliers? Or do you need to improve the training of your internal and supplier auditors so that they add value to these audits? If you need to do either of these, this seminar will provide this training. In addition to auditing skills and hands-on auditing exercises, this seminar will provide an ove

Course "Internal Auditing for the Medical Device Industry" has been pre-approved by RAPS as eligible for up to 12 credits towards a participant's RAC recertification upon full completion. Overview: This course provides an overview of internal auditing requirements and techniques for medical device companies as a method for risk management and quality improvement. The course will cover auditing requirements, audit planning, preparation, knowledge, auditor skills, interviews, documents and records review, objective evidence, audit report writing and corrective action. Why should you attend: Attendees should attend this seminar for risk management and improvement purposes to identify weaknesses, problems, compliance risks, and improvement opportunities. Who Will Benefit: * Quality Manager * Quality Associate * Quality Engineer * Quality Technician * Regulatory Associate Agenda: Day One Lecture 1: Overview of an auditing program, principles of quality management systems and how they related to auditing, benefits of auditing, and what is auditing. Lecture 2: Types of audits, auditor qualifications, ethics, responsibilities, audit phases, audit planning, and scheduling. Lecture 3: Conducting audits, interview techniques, objective evidence, data collection, tracing, use of checklists, and reviewing documents and records. Lecture 4: Conducting process audits, running closing meetings, audit report writing, corrective actions, and improvement Day Two Lecture 1: Overview to auditing to ISO 13485 and FDA QSR. Global differences which affect auditing approaches, auditing document control and record keeping, management responsibility, and resource management. Lecture 2: Auditing order handling, design control, purchasing, and supplier controls. Lecture 3: Auditing production, validation, and preservation. inspection and testing, control of test equipment, customer property, and sterilization Lecture 4: Auditing customer feedback, internal auditing programs, complaint

Overview: Participants will understand the importance of responding to the OCR pre-audit requests and how to respond. Our discussion will cover how to prepare for an anticipated OCR HIPAA privacy audit, by discussing how to conduct an internal self-assessment of your privacy program. We will discuss how to conduct the self-assessment, whether it be the need for policies, procedures or obtaining all of your business associates information. Why should you Attend: If you have received a request from the OCR to provide the name of your entities privacy official and additional criteria, you are already aware that you are on the OCR's radar and may be the focus of an audit. If you haven't received a request yet, anticipate receiving one soon. In addition to ensuring that your HIPAA program is audit ready, you also need to ensure that you know all of your business associates and have their information readily available to provide to the OCR. Your entity needs to be ready now, as the OCR will either conduct focused desk audits, on-site audits or both in effort to review documentation of evidence of your compliance with the HIPAA regulation. Areas Covered in the Session: Office of Civil Rights "OCR" requests for privacy official and additional information and timeline for response Internal assessment criteria of privacy program in anticipation of an OCR audit Conducting the assessment using the template based upon HIPAA regulations Discuss methods to address any found deficiencies Workforce training Who Will Benefit: Healthcare providers Compliance and Internal Audit professionals or office staff responsible for ensuring patient privacy Healthcare Administrators Business Associates and all HIPAA Covered Entities Speaker Profile Gail Madison Brown is a registered nurse and an attorney with over 25 years of experience in health care. For the last 15 years she has focused on health care compliance and revenue cycle management operations. Gail's experience ranges

Overview: During the webinar Participants will be addresses on the key regulatory provisions for cosmetic products in the major global economies. The EU's new Cosmetic Product Regulation (EU CPR) will be given a certain, wider position as the EU CPR is representing the latest, most modern regulatory framework which is influencing other global legislators. For the regulations of the USA, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, ASEAN, India, Brazil, Mercosul/Mercosur and Russia, a general introduction into the key provisions will be given. Some specific difficulties arising from the existing discrepancies in the global frameworks will be depicted. Areas Covered in the Session: The new EU Cosmetics Regulation Basis principles and provisions Experiences and obstacles from the implementation phase Options for compliance approaches and available supporting tools Remaining issues and future perspectives and activities Cosmetics Regulations in Asia China & Hong Kong South Korea Japan Taiwan The ASEAN Cosmetics Directive India Russia Cosmetics Regulation in the Americas - Existing Global Discrepancies and International Harmonization Attempts USA Canada Mercosur / Mercosul South Africa Existing Global Discrepancies Harmonization Attempts The Intern. Cooperation on Cosmetic Regulation (ICCR) Who Will Benefit: Business Owners Managers in manufacturing New staff in manufacturing QA Administrative Managers Regulatory Compliance Associates Customer Service Speaker Profile Dr. Annelie Struessmann is Technical Director with CONUSBAT, a provider of internationalization services for the Fine Chemicals, Cosmetics & Life Sciences Industries: www.conusbat.com. She joined the firm in 2003 and established the service area of regulatory affairs where she is focusing on the European regulatory frameworks for cosmetic products and for chemicals (REACH). The service spectrum includes dossier preparation, safety assessments, registrations, notifications and direct representations, etc. S

Ultrasound is the safest technology to scan internal organs as it uses sound waves. It does not make use of X-rays or any other harmful radiations for imaging. It is highly useful accurate in diagnosis of various ailments in internal organs. It is very safe and non-invasive method to scan internal organs.

Course "Tougher Import Rules for FDA Imports in 2016" has been pre-approved by RAPS as eligible for up to 12 credits towards a participant's RAC recertification upon full completion. Overview: FDA's and the Customs and Border Patrol Service (CBP) have become increasingly sophisticated and equally demanding in the submission of information and adherence to government procedures. Firm's that fail to understand and properly execute an import and export program find that their shipment is delayed, detained or refused. In 2016 entries must use the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) entry filing system or face entry refusals and monetary penalties up to $10,000 per offense. A number of other factors can derail the expectation of a seamless import process. The course covers detailed information about the roles and responsibilities of the various parties with an import operation and how to correct the weakest link(s) in the commercial chain. The course will include tips on how to understand FDA's thinking and offer anecdotal examples of FDA's import program curiosities. Why should you attend: What happens when your product is detained? FDA will begin a legal process that can become an expensive business debacle. You must respond fully within short timeframes. This is not the time for you to be on a learning curve. You need to have a plan in place and know what you are doing. The FDA is steadily increasing the legal and prior notice information requirements. If you do not know what those requirements are and you initiate a shipment, your product is figuratively dead in the water. You must be accurate with the import coding information and understand the automated and human review process. If not, you can expect detained shipments. CBP is implemented a new "Automated Commercial Environment" computer program that changes import logistics and information reporting for FDA regulated products. Your shipment may be stopped before it is even loaded at the foreign port. What

Rationale for Clinical Trial Regulations Clinical trials, as we all know, are carried out to test the efficacy of a new drug or device being developed for a specific condition or disease. Clinical trials are experiments that have a high degree of risk if they are not properly implemented. For this reason, it is necessary for regulatory bodies to regulate clinical trials. The core rationale for regulating the various stages of clinical trials is that human subjects, who are part of the research, have to be protected. These clinical trial regulations are legislated at all stages: local, State, national and international. Clinical trial regulations are in force in different countries of the world. Common clinical trial regulations are also made globally by the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), which has the mandate of setting out good practices for clinical trial regulations for trials done in global cooperation. These regulations cover the administrative, procedural and ethical aspects of clinical trials. Briefly, these are the areas in which there are clinical trial regulations for each of these aspects of clinical trials: Administrative: The administrative aspects of clinical trial regulations pertain to the way the clinical trials are run, and the way they are tracked and monitored throughout their lifecycle. A clinical trial is usually monitored by a sponsoring company or a Contract Research Organization (CRO), which the former hires at times for reasons of convenience and cost cutting. Clinical trial regulations in this area is obviously of importance because if something goes wrong at any administrative stage; these can be rectified. Procedural: Procedural aspects of clinical trial regulations relate to ways by which subjects are chosen for a clinical trial. Proper care has to be taken to ensure that the subjects are appropriate for the clinical study, are from the prescribed age, geographical, demographic, racial and gender-related cl

The emerging discipline of Hospitals Management Performance Assessments Over the past few years, Hospitals Management Performance Assessments have begun to gain acceptability and credence in healthcare circles. Hospitals Management Performance Assessments came into being as a result of a conscious effort by advanced countries, mainly European, with sufficient backing from the World Health Organization (WHO) to arrive at some sort of metrics to evaluate the critical functioning levels of hospitals. The topic of Hospitals Management Performance Assessments came to acquire proper shape and structure following the heavy reference the WHO made to this discipline at the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Health Systems of June 2008. The following year, it found resonance again, when it was the theme of the World Health Day. The evaluation of Hospitals Management Performance Assessments Hospitals Management Performance Assessments started to evolve primarily to provide healthcare professionals with a tool to diagnose the quality of performance of the hospitals and other healthcare settings they work in. It was felt, over time and experience, that when strict appraisals were being made in many areas of healthcare, a set of parameters to assess the level of efficiency of hospitals would go a long way in ensuring the implementation of enhanced processes, leading to better patient outcomes. Areas of concentration for Hospitals Management Performance Assessments The core disciplines in which Hospitals Management Performance Assessments sought to bring about measurable and verifiable improvements were: The PATH approach As a result of discussions and deliberations the WHO held with many countries, primarily European, a path for charting out the course of Hospitals Management Performance Assessments was concretized in the form of what the WHO called the PATH - the Performance Assessment Tool for Quality Improvement in Hospitals. A brief understanding of PATH PATH

The Common Technical Document (CTD) is an international standard for the summary documents relating to quality, safety and efficacy information of medicinal products. The CTD is mandatory for the registration of medicines. International Council for Harmonization (ICH) mandates to obtain regulatory approval of new drug applications of Pharmaceutical companies operating in European Union states. The main aim of CTD is to achieve greater harmonization in new drugs development and registration. The standard encompasses the entire spectrum of documentation to be integrated into a regulatory submission dossier, thereby offering complete guidance to pharmaceutical companies as to how formulation and manufacturing information supporting the quality parameter as well as the results of non-clinical and clinical research needs to be organized and presented.

Overview: Become knowledgeable and understand the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute, Physician Self-Referral Law, Excluded Individuals and additional criminal/civil laws that may worsen the punishment if these laws are violated. Understand the criteria of each law, exceptions and how to identify an issue that requires mitigation. Why should you Attend: Are you able to distinguish with certainty an agreement, contract or activity that is permissible versus one that is not under our current healthcare laws and regulations? Do you have a contract organization system where reviews are done regularly and retained centrally? Do you conduct auditing and monitoring of potential high risk compliance areas related to fraud, waste and abuse? If you are uncertain or need additional guidance on recognizing potential violations of healthcare fraud, waste and abuse regulations and how to audit and monitor for non-compliance, this training is for you. Areas Covered in the Session: Define and describe elements of the Anti-kickback Statute, False Claims Act, Exclusionary Rule, Physician Self-Referral Law and potential penalties for violations Discuss exceptions and related criteria to the Physician Self-Referral Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute Identify common potential issues that may result in violations and how to avoid or mitigate them Provide examples on how to comply with the regulations Describe areas to audit, monitor and implement policies/procedures for compliance Who Will Benefit: Health care providers Revenue cycle management employees Coders, Billers Compliance officers Contract management Compliance and Internal Audit professionals Healthcare administrators Speaker Profile Gail Madison Brown is a registered nurse and an attorney with over 25 years of experience in health care. For the last 15 years she has focused on health care compliance and revenue cycle management operations. Gail's experience ranges from starting new compliance programs and making impr

Course "Validation and 21 CFR 11 Compliance of Computer Systems: Intermediate to Advanced" has been pre-approved by RAPS as eligible for up to 12 credits towards a participant's RAC recertification upon full completion. Overview: Computer Systems Validation (CSV) also known as Software Validation is all-pervasive in the Life Sciences Industry. It is a requirement of all the predicate rules, as well as 21 CFR 11 and Annex 11. However, unless one knows how to implement CSV, it is often very hard to detect the requirement for CSV, and very hard to determine what needs to be done, to meet domestic and / or international regulations or business continuity requirements. In addition, the FDA has stepped up 21 CFR 11 inspections that include CSV. This course will build on the Validation and 21 CFR 11 Compliance Basic Course, to give hands on experience on executing on the computer systems validation of a system, and to discuss related activities such as Validation Master Plan, Infrastructure Qualification, Project Management for Validation and Validation of Test Tools The attendees must have attended the Basic Validation & 21 CFR 11 Compliance. This is a very hands-on class and the attendees will be expected to use templates provided in the class to create the complete package for the validation of a system The Seminar: This Hands-On course will provide the attendees with more detailed experience on validation / 21 CFR 11 compliance of a computer system, as well as details for activities associated with computer systems validation as follows: 1. Validation Master Plan 2. Complete Validation for a System 3. Excel Spreadsheet Validation 4. Change Control 5. SOPs 6. Test Tools Validation 7. Project Management for Validation Who Should Attend : * VP of IT * Director of IT * Quality Managers * Project Managers (for CSV / IT) * Validation Specialists * Database Administrators * System Administrators * Directors / Senior Directors of Discovery * Directors /

Overview: As the healthcare industry moves toward a value based reimbursement model rather than fee for service, it is crucial that the provider and ancillary staff understand how ineffective reporting can lead to dollars lost. We will review the 3 critical areas that require skilled management. Understand that patients are more educated about their healthcare and are increasingly responsible for more out of pocket costs. High dollar deductibles may result in self pay realities and bad debt increases. Learn areas that increase your chances for an audit. Are you ready for the challenge? Why should you Attend: Revenue is dependent upon proficiency in multiple areas. In today's environment, it is risky to maintain the status quo and increasingly important to obtain and maintain skilled business staff. The granularity of the ICD-10 code set requires understanding of the official coding conventions and guidelines, the ability to apply those guidelines, and the ability to recognize when reporting may lead to revenue delay, reduction or loss. Additionally, other factors affect your revenue stream. This includes patients with high deductible plans, collection of much more than a small co-pay, and staff understanding of regulations that govern telephone collection activity. Don't leave money on the table or invite an audit into your practice. Audits are often the result of weak billing and coding skills. This program will review several areas that will cost you money if poorly handled. Areas Covered in the Session: Required specificity in coding Documentation necessary for ICD-10 reporting Why coders must frequently query for clarification How ambiguous diagnosis reporting affects you r bottom line Internal collections versus outsourcing. What should you consider Staff effective in handling problem claims? Developing appeals? Who Will Benefit: Coders Billers Revenue cycle Physicians Mid-level providers Nurses Claims follow-up Managers Managers Speaker Profil

Overview: The connection between the Body, its physiology and particularly biochemistry, have been linked to the mind with particular emphasis upon emotions and stress. This can be easily substantiated in common everyday situations. Anyone who has observed a facial red flush triggered by some sort of embarrassment can attest to the foregoing connection. The emotions and stress play a key role in many if not all diseases and disorders: due to the vastness of the subject, we will focus on the application of the mind/body connection(MBC) to skin. This serves as an introduction to the field of psych dermatology which, although still in its infancy in the USA, is expanding as evidence with regard to the psychological component related to the etiology of skin diseases continues to grow. Concurrently, the field of Alternative techniques IN mind/body treatments continue to grow in leaps and bounds providing effective methods for integration with conventional cosmetic and dermaceutical treatment. This provides a dual complimentary pathway both for prevention and treatment of any/most skin disorders. Expanding on this model, we have already shown how the mind influences the body as per the above example. This general proposition can be extended to include specific skin disorders such as acne rosacea psoriasis eczema and atopic dermatitis to name a few. We will concentrate on Acne for the sake of this discussion. First, focusing on the B component of the BMC model, the primary lesion associated with acne is the formation microcomodones, which are small enough to proceed undetected until larger comodones appear later in the cycle. The latter cycle is initiated by peroxidation of squalene and unsaturated fatty acids present in human sebum. This leads to the foregoing lesions and pro- inflammatory mediators such as cytokines and interleukins followed by an increase of p.acnes on the epithelial cell wall together with increased film formation of the p.acnes is the same area This

Workplace Safety Regulations : Workplace safety is a matter of grave importance to any organization. Ensuring the safety of workers is a primary goal of most countries, no matter which kind of political system or setup they have. This is because almost no workplace is free from some or another kind of hazard. These workplaces could be as varied as hospitals, construction sites, engineering plants or agriculture and many more. Governments the world over consider it their duty to provide a safe workplace. Workplace safety can concern any hazard that can happen to either the physical or emotional wellbeing of a worker. National and global workplace safety regulations : Workplace safety regulations are legally stipulated measures that governments require organizations in both the private and public sector to implement in order to ensure safety at the workplace. Almost all countries have their own set of workplace safety regulations. These regulations work in tandem with a few global management systems with the aim of enhancing safety standards at the workplace. A notable global organization that is at the forefront of legislating workplace safety regulations is the International Labor Organization (ILO). These ILO-mandated legislations are meant to supplement the national workplace safety regulations that most countries have. This is done in the belief that many a time, these individual legislations may not be sufficient in themselves. Workplace safety regulations in the US : Like most other countries, the US too has its own set of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) standards. Owing their origins to the Richard Nixon era in late 1970; workplace safety regulations in the US concretized under what is collectively called the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The major feature of OSHA is that apart from promulgating workplace safety regulations across nearly all conceivable sectors and types of industries; OSHA also has a provision for whistleblow

Overview: Participants will learn how to conduct an investigation of allegations of patient privacy violations using a privacy "risk analysis" tool and steps that should be taken when a breach has been determined. Why should you Attend: You must conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of all allegations of privacy violations. A violation of a patient's privacy may result in monetary penalties, harm to your reputation and especially harm to a patient. You need to make certain your organization has the expertise to conduct a thorough privacy investigation, analyze the results and take all necessary action to mitigate and report violations when required. Areas Covered in the Session: Best practices for conducting a privacy investigation Use of the risk analysis tool Interpretation of your results Reporting requirements if necessary Recommendations of continued privacy monitoring Workforce training Who Will Benefit: Healthcare providers Compliance and Internal Audit professionals or office staff responsible for ensuring patient privacy Healthcare Administrators Business Associates and all HIPAA Covered Entities Speaker Profile : Gail Madison Brown is a registered nurse and an attorney with over 25 years of experience in health care. For the last 15 years she has focused on health care compliance and revenue cycle management operations. Gail's experience ranges from starting new compliance programs and making improvements to existing programs for physician practices to large health care organizations. Gail also has provided numerous lectures to healthcare providers, executives and professional colleagues. Gail Madison Brown will develop, implement, and oversee processes, systems, educational programs, and other activities necessary to support and grow clinical trials activities at the UT Health Science Center. The Chief Clinical Trails Officer (CCTO) provides overall strategic leadership in this area including planning, goal setting, and monitoring organ

Overview: The idea of providing health care treatments and insurance coverage according to "medical necessity" determinations seems eminently reasonable. Its obvious ethical thrust is to discourage unnecessary, wasteful or fraudulent practices. As practically implemented, however, "medical necessity" regulations and determinations have proven remarkably controversial and elusive. First of all, the language connected with medical necessity is inherently vague. Language to the effect that a treatment is medically necessary if it is "likely to achieve a significant practical improvement," is "realistic," or "reasonable" will predictably cause disputes between payors and providers of care. Second, the persistence of these disputes calls into question whether evidence based practices have evolved to a point where they are all that reliable and useful. Third, medical necessity determinations incur problems as to who should ultimately make them: payors, health providers or the courts. Obviously, whoever controls the definition of medical necessity controls the flow of health care dollars. While ethical theory can offer important insights about our moral obligations, it remains unable to reliably translate its theoretical principles and rules bearing on harms, benefits and justice into informing medical necessity determinations. Thus, resolving disputes over medical necessity have taken a procedural approach that looks to the interpretation of contractual language in insurance policies, often at the bench of an administrative law judge. This presentation will advance a reasonable set of strategies whereby a convincing case can be made for certain care interventions qualifying as "reasonable and necessary." Why should you Attend: Despite their central importance as a locus for determining reimbursement, "medical necessity" regulations and determinations have proven remarkably controversial and vexing for at least the last 20 years. Yet, whoever controls the definition