The ISO 13485: 2016

The ISO 13485, which is the ISO’s global medical device standard; was upgraded significantly in 2016. This upgrade was carried out primarily to help the standard keep up with the changes that have taken place in the industry in about the decade and a half since the previous standard was brought into effect in 2003. Changes have taken place in a number of key areas of the medical device field, but the most important changes relate to the changes in technology and in relation to the increased importance of risk management at almost all levels in the medical device industry.
The earlier version was based on the ISO 9001:2000 standard, while the new upgrade is based on a later standard, the ISO 9001: 2008. Changes have been carried out into almost all the sections of the new standard, with the most important areas that have been changed including flexibility, the requirements from medical device companies to adhere to regulatory requirements, the inclusion of the risk based approach into the organization’s QMS, medical device filing and documentation, verification and validation, design and development, training, supplier monitoring and so on.
QMS is an important area of change

The QMS is the most prominent area in which the new document differs from that of the earlier version. Although the new version is considerably more closely aligned to the FDA’s Quality System Regulations (QSR); there still exist major differences. Not getting a proper grasp of these differences has the potential for creating problems in implementation.
Medical device companies also need to consider the Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP), the mechanism through which the regulatory systems in a few jurisdictions will continue to rely on ISO 13485:2016. In relation to this mechanism, the fundamental difference between the US and the EU is this: the US will participate in MDSAP, but doesn’t expect to change its regulations, while the EU is not going to participate. It has published its own version, EN ISO 13485:2016, and will continue with the existing Notified Body system. however, the EU will promulgate in its own set of new regulations that will replace the directives. These will lead to new regulations, which will be new versions of EN ISO 13485:2016 and EN ISO 14971:2012.
It is crucial for medical device companies to keep track of the changes introduced in ISO 13485:2016, as this is the new standard that they have to comply with. While it is not legally binding to do this; they gain in a number of ways in being compliant with these changes.
Proper and full learning of the ISO 13485:2016

Being compliant with the new version requires a clear understanding of the new regulation, the ways in which it has to be implemented, the areas of work that need to be changed, and so on. A seminar being organized by GlobalCompliancePanel, a leading provider of professional trainings for all the areas of regulatory compliance, will explain all these.
At this seminar, the Director is Dan O’Leary, who is the President of Ombu Enterprises, LLC. Dan, who brings more than 30 years’ experience in Quality, Operations and Program Management in regulated industries including aviation, defense, medical devices, and clinical labs, will offer a complete understanding of how the new regulation needs to be implemented.
Please log on to The ISO 13485: 2016 to enroll for this seminar and get the right perspective of how to implement ISO 13485:2016. This seminar has been pre-approved by RAPS as eligible for up to 12 credits towards a participant’s RAC recertification upon full completion.
Implementation needs to be done quickly

The final version of the new ISO 13485:2016 standard is now available for companies to start implementing. The areas into which changes have to be carried out are quite expansive and huge in number. For many companies, the timeframe for implementation is quite short, depending on the expiry date of their current certificate. Dan will help participants overcome this handicap, and will offer practical implementation advice and suggestions to participants.
He will also use exercises and examples to help participants understand the ways of implementing according to the new guidelines and also analyze the implications of the newly revised regulation, in particular, regulatory systems including MDASP and its nonconformity grading system. This seminar will have the following agenda:

• Overview of ISO 13485:2016
• Regulatory Framework
• Management Responsibility
• Resource Management
• Design and Development
• Supplier Management
• Production Processes
• Process Validation
• Monitoring and Measuring.

click to continue reading :