Pharma e-learning has become imperative for this industry because of so many changes. E-learning is preferred by doctors and patients alike because they suffer from a lack of time. There are also not so many doctors in the market who can impart such training. But even in spite that the learners need to have training for a smooth flow of operations because new products are introduced and without their knowledge employees will delay behind. These are the following conditions in which pharma e-learning is quite important:

• To make the service providers administer the drug correctly:

Patents are useful for short periods because any other life sciences companies come up with alternatives. And hence the medical staff has to capitalize for the short time for which the patent is useful because after that the patients will start using the substitutes also.

Pharma e-learning ensures that the medical practitioners are trained about the utility of the new product so that the drug manufacturer does not lose valuable time from the product launch to the time it’s marketed.

• When new medicines and devices are introduced like during the pandemic:

Pharmaceutical companies can train their staff through e-learning to meet high standards. It can improve the usability of medical devices and drugs by doctors who become aware of their side effects and the right prescribed amount. E-learning has also taken so much importance in the previous two years due to the pandemic where 60% more pharma organizations have started using it.

E-learning is also crucial for those companies which have to transport medicines because they can get destroyed during the flight. This became quite crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic because the support of the government across the world had to be enlisted.

The vaccine had to be transported under controlled temperatures because any exposure to the wrong temperature could lead to a decrease in the power of the medicine. Hence, a cold chain facility needs to be implemented from the manufacturer’s location to the service provider facility, including the transport conditions also.

Hence, e-learning is crucial in this sense for the air cargo service providers along with service providers responsible for administering the doses. The logistics industry needs to understand that the proper arrangement is necessary concerning the packaging of the medicines and their physical handling so that no harm is caused.

• During medicine distribution:

CDC has prescribed some guidelines regarding the delivery of medicines, hence pharma e-learning is crucial for such companies while ensuring transport. Hence, pharmaceutical companies must ensure that the trucks used for medicine delivery are insulated. There should not be an improper delay in the transport of vaccines to prevent any harm.

The pharmaceutical distributors need to ensure that their staff is trained well and that the temperature inside the vehicle is used for transport should not hit zero because it means destroying the medicine. Hence, the staff should know how to use temperature monitoring equipment. It’s better, that if any medicine has been destroyed in transportation due to inadequate temperature, the distributor must inform the service provider.

A service provider has to check the condition of the medicine to see whether it’s damaged or not. It’s because although medicine has been put under the wrong temperature it might still not exhibit any signs of harm e.g. it’s not frozen.

How can service providers ensure that the vaccine is of a reliable quality?

How to prevent medicine damage?

It’s the job of a service provider to provide pharma e-learning to its staff. It can ensure that the staff is given SOPs which they can use in case any adversity happens which can affect the quality of the stored medicines. Such incidents can be in the form of natural disasters, problems with the equipment, etc. they should know how to get in touch with vaccine manufacturers for resupply once the stored medicine has been damaged.

They should also be aware of procedures for contacting equipment service providers in case there is any problem with the storage machines causing faults with the medicine.

Apart from pharma e-learning documented SOPs are useful in maintaining the storage facilities. The new employees at a service provider premises also have to be trained in proper storage practices. They can be introduced to such procedures as a part of their job-related onboarding given through pharma e-learning.

Whenever there is a modification in the storage procedures for medicines due to some new medicines added to the inventory, it’s time to again update the pharmaceutical e-learning content.