A simple breakdown of MDSAP, how it can benefit your company, and detailed instructions on how to get started.
By now you have most likely heard the term MDSAP around the industry, but how well do you truly know what it means? Do you know whether or not your business should participate or where to even start if you do?
Well, you’ve come to the right place.
We are going to breakdown everything you need to know about MDSAP and leave you feeling confident to take the next steps! In this blog we will cover:
Let’s get started!
MDSAP Timeline
What is MDSAP?
The Medical Device Single Audit Program provides a globally standardized approach to auditing, allowing for an audit performed in one region to simultaneously satisfy the regulatory requirements of multiple different regions across the world.
MDSAP allows a medical device manufacturer to undergo one singular audit that will satisfy the requirements for any and all regulatory authorities participating in the program. As long as the audit is performed by a MDSAP recognized Audit Organization (AO), it will be accepted in each of the different markets of the participating regulatory authorities.
There are currently 5 regulatory authorities participating in MDSAP:
Therefore, MDSAP allows for 1 regulatory audit of a medical device manufacturer that will be accepted for all of the 5 regulatory authorities listed above. 1 audit for 5 different medical device markets! But, keep in mind that medical device manufacturers are responsible for scheduling, paying for, and completing this audit conducted by a MDSAP recognized AO.
Some good news, the MDSAP audit model doesn’t add any new requirements to the existing requirements from ISO 13485 or other country-specific requirements of the participating Regulatory Authorities. So, theoretically, if you were fully prepared for an audit and in compliance with existing requirements before you had even heard of MDSAP, your audit model would be ready to undergo a MDSAP audit as well.
How does it work?
Rather than the regulatory authorities performing the audits themselves, they give approval to third party Auditing Organizations (AO) to audit the medical device manufacturers themselves. If you have ever partaken in an ISO audit, MDSAP audits are very similarly designed.
Since MDSAP audits are scheduled and planned by the medical device company, they won’t be a surprise and you also get to choose what AO you would like to have auditing your business!
MDSAP is comprised of 3 audit phases:
These 3 audit phases can be further broken down by the stages within them. The Initial Audit has 2 stages, Stage 1 and Stage 2. In Stage 1, the audit will be focussing on your Quality Management System (QMS) procedures and documentation, and how prepared you are for Stage 2. Stage 2 will be focussing more on your records of compliance, making sure that you are actually staying fully compliant.
The Surveillance Audit is conducted over a two year period and focuses heavily on your QMS requirements. This audit does not repeat the activities from the Initial Audit if there were no changes, but should assess any changes in your products or QMS processes since the initial certification audit was conducted.
The Re-certification Audit will take another year to complete. It is a comprehensive overview of your entire QMS that has been examined thus far. It's purpose is to make sure your QMS is meeting MDSAP QMS requirements and that you have continued compliance. This audit contains more precise sampling than the previous audits and typically takes less time than the initial certification audit.
See the diagram below for a clear layout of each of the 3 audit phases.Your audit will cover 7 main areas:
With 4 main focal points:
After you tackle the 3 audit phases of your MDSAP audit, you will need to be prepared with next steps depending on whether you pass or fail.
If you pass your audit, you move on to being certified! If you don't, it means there were non-conformities. But don't worry! You have 30 days to fix all of these non-conformities. If you correct them all in time and they are approved, you move on to certification. If not, you will need to go through the whole audit process again.
Regardless of whether you pass or fail, you will need to send in an audit report to local authorities. (see diagram below)
Pros and Cons of Participating
In short, there are many pros that come with participating in MDSAP. Although, it can be more challenging for smaller companies to participate due to the high costs. Currently, all company sizes pay the same amount, but keep a close eye on this because there has been talk of offering discounts for smaller companies!
How to Participate
After reading the pros and cons, if MDSAP is something your business can afford, you should definitely participate! 1 audit for 5 countries/markets, it doesn't get much better than that.
To make your life easier, we have outlined 8 simple, specific steps for how to get started:
When it comes to scheduling your MDSAP audit, the sooner the better! Audit spots are filling up fast and there are three big deadlines coming up before May 2020.
MDSAP Industry Benefits
MDSAP was created with the intent to benefit all parties involved: medical device manufacturers, regulatory authorities, government bodies, and consumers/patients.
Some of the following benefits of MDSAP include:
How to Pass Your MDSAP Audit with Flying Colors
The most surefire way to pass your MDSAP audit with flying colors is to have an effective Quality Management System (QMS). Having a good QMS will make sure your work is correctly documented, kept up to date, and easy to present to an auditor.
Sierra QMS is designed for organizations who are looking to market medical devices in a global regulated environment, so it is perfect for MDSAP audits. It is built for engineering teams to operate with their preferred tool-sets while automating the compliance with medical device QMS principles for global markets. Sierra Labs helps both medical device software developers and SaMDs developers to build a vigorous QMS that includes a variety of effective workflow management tools.
With compliance to regulatory requirements, an organization will not only be able to pass every audit, but will also be prepared to offer products which are safe, and avoid the setbacks (and disadvantages) related with noncompliance.
The optimized solution to reduce risk, maintain quality, and accelerate innovation is by utilizing an FDA compliant and best practice conformant medical device quality management application.
Want to see how Sierra QMS can help your organization pass your MDSAP audit?
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