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Kimberly Kiner

Inspection Preparation Concepts for Clinical Research Sites

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The first thought that typically comes to mind when you hear about an upcoming FDA inspection at your site is the logistics– where to meet, document review, and your facility’s condition.  There are however, other factors to keep in mind for both on-site and remote inspections.

This article will briefly cover the basic principles of a GCP inspections and what clinical site staff should expect and keep in mind for future inspections.

FDA Investigators (commonly known as Inspectors) regularly visit clinical research sites to conduct inspections and ensure GCP requirements are being followed.  In fact, according to FDA’s inspection metrics, almost 800 BIMO or Bioresearch Monitoring  inspections are conducted  at clinical research sites every year (with the exception of the pandemic in year 2020).

What to expect

Whether an FDA Investigator conducts an on-site or remote inspection, he/she will need to show his/her credentials and show an FDA-482 prior  to discussing the inspection’s purpose, scope and  number of days according to the size and complexity of the trial(s) being inspected.

In general, the first day of inspection will also require the review of pre-inspection records, site files and subject files.  Interviews will also be conducted with the study personnel, such as the study coordinator(s) and the Principal Investigator to determine compliance to the regulations, protocol/investigational plan and other study-related procedures.

At the end of each day, the inspectors will do a summary of findings, as well as a general verification of their checklist to confirm if inspection criteria were fully covered and all requested documentation received.

The most important aspects that FDA Investigators  focus on are patient safety and data integrity. They will look at patient consents, adverse event/experience reporting, and anything that could potentially jeopardize the patient’s safety. They also ensure data integrity by confirming the absence of data transcription errors  and compliance to  the regulations, protocol and other study requirements according to CPGM (Compliance Program Guidance Manual) for Clinical Sites.

What to keep in mind

  • Plan Accordingly – Keep a checklist available to ensure documents are inspection-ready. site staff are adequately prepared and technology is properly working for provided access and sharing documentation (especially for remote inspections).
  •  Practice Interview Skills –During the interviews, it is important to inform your staff about the Do’s and Don’ts of interviewing including how to answer the questions asked by the inspectors. For example, all site staff should be prepared to discuss topics such as:
    • Training – Safety-related, Protocol, Case Report Form
    • Delegation of study-related tasks/PI Oversight
    • Subject recruitment
    • Informed consent process
    • Source documentation
    • Data entry
    • Investigational product or device handling

Interviewees only need to answer the question directly with no additional information. Moreover, if you don’t know the answer to a certain question, it is acceptable to say that you don’t have access to that information at the time and that you will get back to them with an answer later.

  • Don’t get defensive/ask questions – Be sure that none of your staff are getting defensive with the FDA inspector as this might come back to haunt you.
  • Ask for Clarification – If you need clarification or have questions about the findings reported by the FDA inspector, it is totally acceptable to point them out. However, defensive behavior is never a good idea.

Key Takeaway

Inspections are an important aspect of clinical research trials.  A proactive approach and consistent preparation from clinical site personnel at the start of a trial, results in a successful inspection at the end.

Need an Inspection Preparation checklist for your site?  Feel free to download our free Inspection Preparation Checklist as a preparation tool.

 

 

 

Location Matters…

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What’s wrong with this picture?

On a typical workday, you may see nothing wrong with this picture…but place an FDA Investigator or other regulatory Inspector in this room, and you may it see differently. I’ve had the opportunity to work as an FDA Investigator working in the GxP (primarily GMP) world.  I left that career and transitioned over to the industry (AKA ” the other side”) in GCP starting out as a Clinical Research Associate (CRA).  

As an FDA Investigator inspecting all types of manufacturers, I was accustomed to reviewing documents in immaculate, spacious conference rooms.  When I became a CRA monitoring clinical sites, however, I had a rude awakening and was quickly humbled by my designated monitoring space. There were no spacious conference rooms…sometimes no room at all.  With some sites, I was placed in a small cubicle.  With other sites, I sometimes shared the busy desk of either the Principal Investigator, Sub Investigator or Study Coordinator. 

But the most memorable experience was when I was placed in the break room /copy/printer room where I shared a table with documents and binders from other trials and was entertained by interesting (and sometimes incriminating) conversations from site staff. 

At that point, I couldn’t help but reminisce on my prior career as an FDA Investigator thinking “Boy, would I have a field day if I were an FDA Investigator placed in this room!”

 But I’m no longer an FDA Investigator…I’m on the “other side” now, training others on audit/inspection readiness and providing tips on how they should prepare and set up appropriately for an inspection. 

Important tips to know when it comes to set up is to adequately prepare your staff and facility including inspection and support rooms.

FACILITY AND STAFF PREPARATION

When preparing the facility, for an on-site audit or inspection, select a private area, or conference room that has a phone and, a copy machine for document requests.  It is important that other areas such as work areas and printing rooms are clean and free of loose documents. 

Finally, support areas or affiliated departments such as the pharmacy and or laboratory should be assessed to ensure all documents and staff are inspection-ready.

Also post designated signs throughout nearby areas notifying others of the inspection to ensure all nearby conversations are minimized during the inspection.​

INSPECTION ROOM VS SUPPORT/WAR ROOM

The Inspection Room should be a quiet, private and paper-free located near the Support/War Room.  This room should also be set-up with computers and screens for the FDA Investigator to review records and electronic systems used in the trial.​

The Support/War Room which is a combination of clinical site and sponsor support, should be equipped with working electronics (such as email, printer, Instant Messaging) and dedicated to providing all needed documentation for the inspection.

KEY TAKEAWAY

In order to fully prepare for an audit or inspection, you must consider the rooms in your facility as part of readiness planning and preparation.  After all, LOCATION MATTERS!

 

How To Implement Lessons Learned From Regulatory Inspections

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This article will highlight some of the steps you can take to implement lessons learned and optimize your company’s policies and procedures in terms of compliance and alignment with the regulations. 

Different regulatory agencies perform frequent inspections to ensure compliance with pertinent study-related processes and their respective regulations. Learning lessons from these regulatory inspections and implementing them as part of your processes or Quality Management System will tremendously help you in the future. 

Implementing the lessons learned from regulatory inspections 

Immediately after an inspection, there should be a process in place for implementing lessons learned. Here are the steps to implement lessons learned from regulatory inspections: 

1.Identify Lessons Learned 

Identifying comments and recommendations made during recent regulatory inspections is valuable for future inspections. You also need to prepare for and conduct a Lessons Learned session. 

  1. Prepare for lessons learned session – the preparation should be done in advance, where you organize areas that prevent discrepancies and missing information. You should have standard criteria for each clinical study you are conducting. 
  2. Lessons Learned Session – this step focuses on identifying the successes and failures of your processes as it relates to your trials, which also includes some recommendations on how to improve performance for future regulatory inspections. 

Ask the following questions: 

  • What went right during the inspection? 
  • What went wrong during the inspection? 
  • How can we improve for future inspections?

2. Document Lessons Learned 

After capturing lessons learned, you should document everything into a comprehensive report that summarizes the inspection and what everyone can do to improve in the future. You can also conduct interviews with your team members to discuss what went right and what went wrong.  Finally, you can share the report with your team members and executive team emphasizing how this will help you improve performance and readiness for future inspections.  

3.  Analyze Lessons Learned 

Analyzing and organizing the lessons learned from regulatory inspections is also a key step to improve your preparedness in the future. You can continue to conduct meetings to assess when training will be implemented based on new or updated processes. 

4.  Archive Lessons Learned 

Once you have finished the steps listed above, you need to organize and file the lessons learned documentation along with other reports from prior audits and /or regulatory inspections.  While everyone should have access to the documents in your facility, you need to place some focus on keyword research since it will help you get access to the wanted lesson.  

5.  Retrieve lessons learned 

The final step of the Lessons Learned process, especially as new trials arise, is to retrieve the documentation and reflect on successes and failures.  Focus on how your team can maximize successes and minimize and failures in preparation for the next trial.    Having a collection of lessons learned documents is a great asset that serves as powerful inspection readiness tools and allows you and your team to prepare for upcoming clinical trials in addition to future inspections in the most effective way possible. 

Takeaway message  

Preparing yourself and your team before an inspection is vital to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Learning from previous lessons and implementing your new knowledge is indispensable to achieve the goal of continuous improvement and successful inspections. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Our Mission and Purpose

The mission of 2K Clinical Consulting, Inc. is to ease the burden of GxP compliance and to transform the effectiveness of professionals and compliance systems worldwide.

Our History

2K Clinical Consulting, Inc. is the vision of former FDA Investigator, Kimberly Kiner, who empathized with facilities and sites that struggled with understanding and complying with regulations. After years in the field, Kimberly transitioned into the private sector and acquired international experience in compliance, monitoring and study management while she worked for pharmaceutical and invitro/medical device companies as well as CROs. This work experience is what sparked her desire to work as a consultant for organizations such as the Association for Clinical Research Professionals and the Society of Clinical Research Associates. Kimberly later went on to train providers such as Compliance Online and Fx Conferences. This exposure became the gateway to connecting with other experts and teaching professionals resulting in an engaging experience for clients that closes the gap in best practices within the realm of compliance.