Five Reasons Why TMF Training is Important

Training is a vital component of workplace efficiency especially when it comes to one of the most important deliverables of a clinical trial – the Trial Master File (TMF). Perhaps that’s why, according to a recent article in Forbes magazine, U.S. companies spent over $70 billion on corporate training in 2014, an increase of 15% over the previous year.  If you are lucky enough to oversee the TMF, you spend so much time bringing the right employees on board, it only makes sense you would understand the importance of providing them with the proper training to ensure your TMF is always inspection ready.

#1 Increases Productivity and Revenues

Experienced employees can spend significant time answering the questions of the less experienced, decreasing the productivity of your best employees. Perhaps even worse than that, poorly trained employees make more mistakes (i.e. inconsistencies), causing issues that more than likely someone else will have to clean up. Comparatively well-trained employees can reduce mistakes, prevent redundancies (less regulatory findings) and increase revenues (i.e. bringing products to market faster).

#2 Critical Component in Today’s Ever- Changing TMF Environment

The TMF environment is ever-changing, with increased scrutiny by regulatory agencies in the United States and countries in the European Union.  After all, a carefully maintained TMF allows auditors or inspectors to effectively reconstruct the trial and helps your company draw substantial conclusions from the results. Just like in high school algebra class, it is not enough to find the right answer; in the life sciences industry, we need to “show the work.” 

#3 Ensure TMF Consistency 

Structured TMF training ensures that employees have a consistent experience and background knowledge of the content. The consistency is particularly relevant for the TMF and how it relates to regulations, your company's basic procedures and processes. TMF employees should be aware of the expectations and procedures within your company. TMF training in these areas (at minimum) ensures that all staff members at least have exposure to the information. 

#4 Decrease TMF Employee Turnover

One thing we often see is high turnover in TMF departments. One of the most effective ways to retain employees it to provide them with access to training and development programs which creates a supportive working environment.  TMF training provides opportunities and will make employees feel appreciated, which will in turn make them feel more satisfied with their jobs.  With a higher level of satisfaction, employee moral and loyalty will increase and turnover will decrease.

#5 Navigate the TMF Process

Like most industries, technology has altered the way we manage the TMF as many companies now choose to maintain electronic TMFs, or eTMFs, for their clinical trials. This change provides opportunities for improvement in comparison to paper TMFs and previously unforeseen challenges.  All of these rules, regulations, and requirements may seem daunting. If you are a newer company, you may have questions:

• How do we set up eTMFs?
• What resources are available to us?
• What sort of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will our employees need to follow to ensure successful clinical trials?

More experienced companies may be wondering:

• Are our SOPs optimal for an eTMF?
• How do we switch from paper TMFs to eTMFs?
• Are our current methods sufficient to stand up to the harsh light of a governmental audit or inspection? The answer—if your employees have not received extensive training from experienced professionals—may be “no.”