[Podcast] Transforming the Audit Process: Innovations in Supplier Evaluations

Excerpt

The Exceeding Your Benchmark podcast interviews Jim Fries, the CEO of Rx360, a non-profit that works with pharmaceutical companies and their suppliers worldwide to protect patients from pharmaceutical-related safety issues. Jim explains the Joint Audit Program which is used to assess the quality of manufacturing facilities for pharmaceutical products.

Transforming the Audit Process: Innovations in Supplier Evaluations

Ensuring patient safety through audits

Ensuring patient safety is of the utmost importance in the pharmaceutical industry. As such, the process of audit is an essential element of pharmaceutical supply chain security and quality. Rx360, a non-profit organization, is dedicated to improving the audit process, and thus, the overall safety of patients.

Rx360, led by CEO Jim Fries, has been working for the past five years to improve the audit process for pharmaceutical companies and their suppliers worldwide. The organization’s mission is to promote supply chain integrity, material quality, and patient safety. To achieve this mission, Rx360 has created a trademarked model, called the Joint Audit Program.

This program involves conducting quality audits on suppliers in the pharmaceutical industry. These audits are designed to ensure that the facilities are operating in a safe and compliant manner. After the audit is completed, the audit report can be licensed to ease the time and cost burden of pharmaceutical companies conducting their own audits. The audit report contains detailed information about the facility and its operations, which can be used to identify potential risks or areas of improvement.

In addition to the Joint Audit Program, Rx360 works with pharmaceutical companies and suppliers to provide education and training on the importance of supply chain security and quality. This helps to ensure that the necessary processes are in place to protect the end product’s safety and quality.

By creating the Joint Audit Program and providing education and training, Rx360 is helping to ensure that the pharmaceutical industry is providing safe and effective medicines to patients. Through their efforts, they are helping to protect and improve the lives of patients around the world.

Improving quality and safety

Rx360’s partnership with Benchmark Products is an example of how the consortium can improve the quality and safety of the supply chain. By providing licensable audit reports to pharmaceutical organizations, they are able to show traceability in their supply chain. This also reduces the burden of doing multiple audits at a single facility and allows pharmaceutical companies to collaborate to police themselves from a safety perspective.

Rx360’s Licensable Audit Report helps pharmaceutical manufacturers demonstrate compliance and improve their operations. The audit report provides an assurance that the facility is meeting quality and safety standards. Additionally, the observations made by the auditor can help to identify areas for improvement. This helps to ensure that quality initiatives are always improving and that the supplier’s products and materials are safe and effective.

Building trust

In the podcast, Jim Fries discussed the importance of trust when it comes to pharmaceutical companies. He noted that, for many years, people have taken for granted that the medications they buy are safe. However, now that he has seen what goes on behind the scenes, he has a greater appreciation for the efforts of pharmaceutical companies to ensure patient safety. He also highlighted the need for more awareness about the hard work and dedication that goes into making sure that the medicines we take are safe.

It is true that we must trust pharmaceutical companies to provide us with safe medications. However, trust is not blindly given. It is earned through hard work and dedication to ensuring that the highest standards of quality and safety are met. Rx360 is helping to ensure that these standards are met and that patients are safe. Through their audits and inspections, they are helping to build trust in the pharmaceutical industry.

At the end of the day, pharmaceutical companies must be held to a high standard. They must take responsibility for ensuring the safety of the medications they provide. Rx360 is helping to ensure that these standards are met and that patients can trust the medications they are taking. It is essential that we continue to build trust in the pharmaceutical industry, and Rx360 and Benchmark Products is helping to do just that.