Auditing Medical Information Services across Western Europe: A Cost-Effective Approach

Abstract

AstraZeneca is a large global ethical pharmaceutical company with 17 local affiliates in Western Europe. Each affiliate provides a medical information service to customers in its country on AstraZeneca products. Although medical information services are mentioned in some promotional codes of practice in Europe, there is no single set of standards that covers them, either externally (globally or regionally) or within the company. The service provided in each country must also meet copyright and data privacy legislation and pharmacovigilance regulations. During preplanned telephone conferences with key personnel, medical information services across Europe were audited. Before the audit, procedural and organizational documentation was collected using a web-based collaborative workspace and translated. A detailed questionnaire on working practices was used to check compliance with the appropriate legislation, regulations, and standards. It could also identify any areas of unmet need, where improvements could be made, and examples of best practice.