"Not only can we now access our documents from any location, but we also benefit from having our documents protected and stored according to current industry best practice. This gives us added confidence that we can continue to meet our legislative and compliance requirements on an ongoing basis."
Dr Peter Hanley CEO
 

Summary

Neuromonics Pty Ltd is a specialist healthcare company dedicated to providing treatment for the medical condition of tinnitus.  This condition can be described as the perception of sound when no external sound is present, often referred to as "ringing in the ears".  The disorder constitutes a major health problem in the industrialised world, having a debilitating effect on almost 2% of the population.  Neuromonics is based in Sydney, Australia.

Stringent compliance requirements and the need to access any document from any location were the key factors for which Neuromonics selected DocBanq.

The Challenge

Organisations that develop, manufacture and distribute medical devices operate in a highly controlled environment and are subject to the stringent requirements of a number of regulatory bodies.  Fundamental to enabling compliance with these requirements is the tight management of the documents and records that are produced in the course of doing business.

Electronic document and records management systems (EDRMS) are software tools that are designed to streamline the document management process and ensure the integrity of the document set for audit. These systems embody concepts such as Version Control, Design History and Security Management; concepts that underpin any document management strategy.

Until DocBanq, the high cost of ownership of EDRMS has made the benefits out of reach for Small-Medium Enterprises (SME) and some larger companies.

"When we first looked at setting up our document management system, we considered doing this in-house using commercially available systems, and quickly came up against the high upfront costs," said Peter Hanley, CEO of Neuromonics.  "And in addition to the high upfront costs, we would have needed on an ongoing basis to source - and pay for - a resource with the expertise to manage and maintain the system.  Dedicating resources to such non-core activities as maintaining IT systems just didn't seem to make business sense for us".

By their nature, biomedical organisations consist of multi-disciplinary teams collaborating on projects from various locations.  The ability to access documents and work collaboratively within a controlled environment is crucial.

"For a given project, we might need the ability for contractors working offsite, partners in other organisations, staff members within our premises all to work from the same documents and to do this within a controlled environment," says Dr Hanley.

The Solution

Neuromonics uses DocBanq to store and manage their documents from a central repository.  Staff members and contractors can then work collaboratively on these documents from multiple sites.

The ownership and maintenance of the hardware and software infrastructure is completely outsourced.  This also includes upgrades, system maintenance work, security, data integrity, backup and recovery.

The Results

"The outsourcing model makes a lot of sense for a growing organisation like ours," says Dr Hanley,  "Being charged on a usage basis means that the cost of using the system matches our organisation size and level of activity".

An outsourced solution ensures that the overall service delivery follows current best practice in the field of Document & Records Management.  "Not only can we now access our documents from any location, but we also benefit from having our documents protected and stored according to current industry best practice.  This gives us added confidence that we can continue to meet our legislative and compliance requirements on an ongoing basis," Dr Hanley concluded.

Web: www.neuromonics.com