Medical Device Risk Management
Medical Device Risk Management is a systematic approach of identifying, analyzing, evaluating, controlling, and monitoring all kinds of risk for a medical device from its design stage to end of life as per the standard ISO 14971. All these activities and results are recorded in the Risk Management File.
Risk Management File & Role of Consultants
Though the Risk Analysis is a process that could start from the design stage of a device to the entire life cycle, a third-party consulting company can help you in many ways.
- Prepares the Procedure for risk management as per the latest harmonized standard.
- Reviews the existing documents related to risk management files belonging to the customer and can identify and fill the gaps with required information in particular for hazards, risks, and mitigation of risks.
- Identification of new hazards
- Documents the risk management activities that include planning, reports, assessments, the effectiveness of risk control measures, and post-market activities related to the risk management file.
- For the residual risk, it performs risk-benefit analysis with the available information from the manufacturer and literature searches to prove that the medical benefit outweighs the residual risk.
- Prepares conclusions and reports.
- As consultants with up-to-date knowledge, we can help you manage the risk management file with the latest updates and moreover help you getting certification in less time period.
Stages of Medical Device Risk Management
1. Risk Management Plan
2. Risk Analysis
3. Risk Evaluation
4. Risk Control
Check if overall residual risks are acceptable. If residual risks are present, perform risk-benefit analysis.
5. Risk Management Report
Conduct of Medical Device Risk Management and Analysis
Risk analysis is a sequence of the process with the use of available information to identify hazards and estimate risk for each hazardous situation of a medical device in its normal use and faulty state. Risk Analysis shall be carried out in three stages.
- Intended use and identification of characteristics related to the safety of the medical device- in this step identify the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of a medical device and its possible misuses.
- Identification of Hazard- in this stage identify all possible hazards of a medical device in its normal use as well as in faulty condition.
- Estimation of Risk for each Hazardous situations- in this stage, the Risk is estimated for each hazardous situation. Also, one can use any system to estimate the probability and severity of harm, this could be quantitatively or qualitatively.
Contents of Risk Management Report
The Risk Management Report shall have the review of the entire risk management process, and this review must have included:
- the risk management plan whether it is implemented appropriately
- Whether the overall residual risk is acceptable
- Whether control measures are taken appropriately;
- Whether appropriate methods are implemented to obtain relevant production and post-production information
- Conclusions
The results of these steps must be mentioned in the risk management report.
Very useful for small and medium size medical device manufactures