IFCT improves its Quality and HR document management with Agatha SOP
The Intergroupe Francophone de Cancérologie Thoracique (IFCT) is an association law 1901 of independent, non-profit academic research specialized in thoracic oncology. Created in 1999, the IFCT sponsors clinical research to improve the survival and quality of life of patients with lung cancer.
Paper-based manual processes were no longer enough
The IFTC used to store Quality and HR documents in a shared environment. The Quality documents were managed by the Quality manager (creation, revision, update, distribution and archiving of documents), while each employee was responsible for his own HR documentation (job description, training logs, certificate of training…).
The manual and mainly paper-based management process was becoming more and more difficult to manage. As an example, the list of documents was kept on an Excel spreadsheet and employees had difficulty navigating through and then accessing the documents. In addition, reviewers and approvers signed hard copies of documents and employees had to confirm the completion of training or the reception of documents with a document on physical sheets distributed, classified and archived by the Quality Manager.
As the number of documents in the shared environment increased and document management became increasingly difficult, the IFCT concluded that the time had come to opt for an automated tool to facilitate the access to documents, as well as for the review and approval process. The IFCT was therefore looking not only for a solution to store documents and facilitate their access, but for a tool that would also allow the automation of the review/approval/confirmation processes, as well as the tracking and auditing of any action taken regarding the Quality documents throughout these processes.
« When your shared environment reaches a large number of documents applying to several departments, a document management application (SOP) becomes essential. In-house shared document solutions are no longer viable. »
Franck Morin
Director IFCT.
« Agatha’s team was helpful, always in a very good mood, and was there to support us from the start. The implementation took place over several weeks. For each question, issue or anomaly , a solution was provided almost immediately. We were able to move forward efficiently.»
Carine Robert
Quality Assurance Manager, IFCT.
How Agatha SOP helped improve processes
Since implementing Agatha’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) application, a significant improvement in Quality processes has been observed. Document management was no longer under the responsibility of a single person (Quality Manager), thus reducing the risk of non-compliance due to human error.
The implementation went quickly and Agatha’s professional services team supported the entire process. IFCT employees find the Agatha SOP application effective and easy to use.
To date, twenty-five employees use Agatha SOP in the company.
« Using Agatha SOP, we have put in place a streamlined quality document management process that used to be much more complex. With automated versioning, review and approval management, users find the documents they need much faster; and monitoring of employee training by HR is greatly simplified and efficient »
Franck Morin
Director, IFCT.