What Is a Validated LMS?
You may have heard the term “validated LMS” being thrown around when it comes to various types of platforms. This is an industry-specific term that’s applied to organizations with certain requirements for compliance and other protocols.
Does your organization manufacture food, drugs, medical devices, or anything chemistry-related? You might want to pay close attention to this article if they do.
The term validated LMS applies to any organization that emphasizes regulatory compliance. Considering these elements of compliance can dictate the existence of an organization within the previously mentioned industries, understanding what a validated LMS consists of is crucial.
Are you aware of what defines a validated LMS? Continue reading to find out.
FDA Regulation
Certain industries are considered high-risk by the FDA. The industries mentioned earlier (food, drugs, medical devices, chemistry, biosciences, etc.) make up the majority of these industries.
These high-risk industries are subject to strict rules and inspections at the hand of the FDA. These rules bind any company that manufactures food, pharmaceutical, or medical equipment.
The GMP (Good Manufacturing Process) and GCP (Good Clinical Practice) guidelines are processes that must be applied to the production of any products that fall under the categories mentioned above. Basically, these guidelines outline the safest and most efficient manufacturing methods and ensure the safety and protection of consumers who buy these items.
Things like keeping a safe manufacturing environment, using only approved ingredients, and selling equipment that passes industry standards are highlighted in these guidelines.
This is what is known as regulatory compliance, and every company that exists in these industries must be able to produce proof of its compliance. Additionally, they must also show undeniable proof that they’ve trained employees in the importance of regulatory compliance and the relevant procedures for the manufacturing process.
Proof of adhering to these regulations is obtained during inspections and a log that tracks a certain manufacturing process. Providing proof of the proper training standards means keeping track of hours logged by employees in training and providing copies of all certifications upon course completion.
Adhering to Standards
Certain production methods are critical for creating safe and effective products when it comes to the pharmaceutical, food, and medical manufacturing industries. This means every employee must participate in detailed and rigorous training that outlines all of these manufacturing and production requirements.
In 21 CFR Part 11, the FDA states its requirements for manufacturers of pharmaceutical and medical products in relation to record-keeping. All records that are accessed electronically in any form must either be texts, images, videos, or audio files.
All files must have information included that explains how the attached files fulfill the requirements outlined by the FDA.
How does your LMS come into play here?
Your LMS ensures that only suitable and well-trained employees take on these manufacturing jobs. Because errors during production could possibly put the lives of patients and consumers’ health and safety at risk, the training program comes under just as much scrutiny as the actual process itself.
This is what makes your LMS platform subject to certain codes of the FDA. These codes are known as 21 CFR Part 11. The CFR stands for the Code of Federal Regulations, which is the portion that makes these regulations industry-wide on a national level.
Because of your LMS’s data and progress tracking abilities, these systems are specifically designed to fulfill these demands for proof. However, in order for your system to become validated and recognized as an efficient source of proof, it must meet certain requirements.
The following section outlines these requirements.
How Your LMS Meets Validation Standards
In an effort to minimize human error, the FDA requires any system used in the production or education process is validated and performs visible functions of the said validatable system.
Audit Trail
All data must be traceable and automatically logged in the required format. Additionally, all of this information must be able to be exported. Any changes, planned courses, and course registration are logged using audit trails. Any defined roles and rights must clearly be stated, and what was changed and who changed it, and the format in which the changes were adapted must be logged as well. See how eLeaP’s audit trail works.
Electronic Signature
An electronic signature may also be required whenever certain actions are performed. Furthermore, these actions must only be carried out by authorized personnel identified by the audit trail, and a login ID and password validate the authorization. Things like the approval of tests and registering approved learning content must be authorized and validated.
Versioning
Any training content that’s included on your LMS platform will be subject to versioning. This includes entire courses, course templates, specific learning paths, test questions, certificates, and cost types. Whenever any of these characteristics are edited, the most recent version will be stored in the system as numbered versions and formally published. All previous versions are also permanently stored, ensuring they can never be lost. This allows for a permanent tracking of all changes made to any of these objects.
Once all of these requirements are met, the validation process must be used to carry out a risk analysis for all products and functions, including the entire LMS itself. Certain scenarios are considered. Note the following example:
What happens if a person accidentally pushes button Z when button Y is the appropriate action. What potential errors can arise, and what is the impact of these errors? What risks or dangers do these errors pose to patients or consumers?
This is best described as a test of worst-case scenarios and weighing the “what if” factors. However, this analysis is only successful, traceable, and verifiable if the roles, processes, and rights are clearly defined and visible.
Once all of these requirements are met, your LMS platform earns the label of a validated platform and is officially legal for use in your specific industry.
All of the previously mentioned areas of importance and the overall theme of regulatory compliance highlight the importance of a validated LMS and its cemented place within the food, pharmaceutical, and medical industries.
Although these processes may seem excessive, they are absolutely warranted. After all, when it comes to the health and safety of consumers, there truly is no room for human error.
Contact us today for a free consultation to ensure your platform is validated and meeting regulatory compliance requirements!