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For successful transformations, Life Sciences organizations need to tap into data at every level — starting with content management

To keep up with the times or rather, persevere to the future, Life Sciences organizations need to match the pace of progress. Ironically, this industry has been one of the slowest to adopt technology to help optimize the processes and workflows that could essentially change the world.

If you work with medical content in any capacity, you’re likely aware of how long it can take to get anything done. Clinical trials, or drug and biomedical product development cycles, are lengthy and subject to multiple rounds of review, highly regulated, compliance-driven, and ultimately, must pass through countless departments during the documentation process.

Amidst economic uncertainty, there is one universally equalizing currency that’s often overlooked — time. As organizations figure out how to do more with less, technology can be the key that helps optimize the minutes and hours available for the movement of text, graphics and data. With the push to use smarter tools to prioritize efficiency, now is the perfect opportunity for the Life Sciences industry to follow the path to digital transformation.

How digital data flow is shaping the Life Sciences industry and content authoring

A current focus for Life Sciences organizations is the concept of digital data flow (DDF). Made popular as the “Digital Data Flow Initiative” by TransCelerate Biopharma Inc, this project aims to move the drug development process from manual asset creation to a fully-automated, dynamic study start-up readiness state that reduces cycle times and improves data quality.

Managing data and DDF is a core function enabled by modern SaaS SCA solutions. As an approach for medical content management, DDF — done correctly with a solution like structured component/content authoring (SCA) — can vastly improve the documentation process from start to finish in a compliant and efficient way.

In Gartner research report, Hype Cycle for Life Science Research and Development, 2020 structured content authoring and component-based authoring (CBA) are identified as the technologies and processes of managing data and content captured in manufacturing, regulatory, clinical and other activities that will be used in life science regulatory filings.

The Life Sciences have long relied on various disconnected programs and platforms for medical authoring: Microsoft Word, email, spreadsheets and siloed databases — just to name a few. Without a centralized system, the documentation process is cumbersome and a common solution is to hire more people to try and expedite the process.

But with a differentiated SCA solution, Life Sciences organizations can simplify content management and data flow in four (if not more) ways:

1. Documentation can evolve with global regulations

   Documentation can evolve with global regulations
   Component authoring is not a new concept, but SCA solutions designed specifically for the Life Sciences industry are now built to anticipate ever-shifting compliance requirements. For example, without SCA, if a regulation disclaimer changes during the drug development lifecycle, a change might be required in the documentation. If content is spread across disparate platforms and authors, it can be challenging and time-consuming to make the update. However, with a component-based platform, one revision can be swiftly pushed to every necessary location without sacrificing compliance.

2. Improve interoperability with external applications

   We touched on the multiple tools used throughout Life Sciences research and development. When you think about managing the flow of data, each program that doesn’t integrate with another slows down content creation and documentation. A modern SCA solution can eliminate roadblocks to progress by reducing the number of platforms needed throughout the process and/or integrating with external applications.

3. Expedite content creation and management

   With multiple authors, reviewers and other stakeholders involved in medical authoring, Each little delay can exponentially increase the time it takes to reach the final publication. By centralizing content creation and management to a single platform, it’s possible to shrink the duration of the entire process. An SCA solution can allow a user experience that maximizes the re-use, traceability and flow of content from source to use.

4. Progress toward fully digitalized systems

   Transformation needs to happen holistically for the Life Sciences industry, with productivity and efficiency serving as drivers. Going digital isn’t only about eliminating paper-based systems but rather streamlining workflows and steps in the people’s day-to-day tasks within the organization. Clinical and regulatory leaders need to include SCA capabilities in the mix as they evolve; a sophisticated yet easy-to-use SCA platform should be essential for any forward-looking institution.

Efficient Life Sciences content management is achievable

The Gartner report mentioned above stated, “We’re at an inflection point in Life Sciences, where the vast content management capabilities and the global regulatory requirements collide, creating complexity, duplication and compliance challenges. Solutions must be examined for revision before reaching this point, allowing the organization to continue to evolve without disruption and reap the resulting increase in efficiency.”

As organizations globally try to do more with fewer resources, whether due to funding or staffing concerns, medical authors and those that lead and contribute to those teams need tools that enable them to perform their work as efficiently and optimally as possible — without requiring lengthy onboarding time or sacrificing compliance.

The Docuvera SCA solution is designed for Life Sciences. It can be implemented at an enterprise level without placing a significant burden on IT resources or requiring an extensive learning curve to use. With dedicated onboarding, training and support, organizations can successfully achieve first phase production, with a significant increase in re-use within only a few months.

In an industry where progress and innovation are everything, it is time to take charge of your data governance and enable DDF with modern SCA.

Start your journey today.