Learn how to manage the distribution of samples by your field staff.
Sample management is important for pharmaceutical products and encompasses the following
features:
Note:
(European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations/Healthcare
Professionals): You can configure the distribution of samples such that it
corresponds to Article 16 of the EFPIA HCP Code. Use the
Quota after initial
distribution configuration entry (
Sample category) to
do so. Enter
2;2
as the
Value to determine that two samples per year may be distributed
to a person (doctor) over the two years from the date that the first samples were issued.
If this quota is exceeded, a message is displayed. The setting defined in the
Quota exceeded configuration entry (
Sample
category) determine whether the record can be saved in this case. If a sample is added
after the two year period has ended, a message is displayed and the record cannot be saved.
If the sample is not subject to a quota, the sample can be issued without a message being
displayed, and further samples can be issued and stored in the system after the two year
period has ended.If you use the
Quota after initial distribution
configuration entry, the
Date-based quota configuration entry is
ignored and the default sample-related business logic is not applied (sample codes).If you
change the value in the configuration entry, remaining quotas based on previously issued
samples are not recalculated.In order to be able to check how many samples a person has
already received, the access rights defined for the
Sample/Year info
area are ignored by the business logic.
Persons not Subject to Quotas
You can define categories of persons that are not subject to quotas. These persons can
receive any number of samples during and after the launch phase, irrespective of whether
a sample code is entered in the item.
Follow the below steps to define categories of persons that are not subject to
quotas:
- Define the categories for persons not subject to quotas in the
Category info area in Aurea CRM win, and enable the
No sample limit check box. Alternatively, you can enable
the No sample limit field for individual persons.
- Enter the desired Category in the appropriate person records
in Aurea CRM web (on the Classification tab).
The No sample limit field in the Person info area only affects
the corresponding person, irrespective of their category. The No sample
limit field in the Category info area affects all
persons assigned to the category.
Entering Sample Quotas for Items
Use the Sample Code info area to define the following per item
and business area:
- Whether samples of this item are subject to a quota
- The duration of the launch phase: The end of the launch phase is the latest end date
in all an item’s sample codes.
- The number of samples that may be distributed per person before and during the
launch phase
Sample Codes
Use the Sample Code info area to define the launch phase and the
amount of samples that can be distributed per person during and after this phase, and
whether the item is subject to a quota.
The settings apply to all reps assigned to the corresponding business area.
To define an item as a sample:
- Switch to the desired item in the Item Master
info area.
- Select New > New Sample Code from
the context menu.
- Enter the desired Business Area.
- Enter the following details:
- If the Allocated field is disabled, there are no
restrictions imposed on the number of items that can be distributed to persons
as samples. (‘*’ is displayed for these items in the Available
Quota column in the quick add area.)
- Enable the Allocated field to determine that the item
is subject to a quota. Use the remaining fields in the info area to determine
the quota and duration of the launch phase.
-
Launch start: Start of the launch phase
-
Launch end: End of the launch phase
-
Units during launch: Quota that can be issued per
person and year during the launch phase.
-
Units after launch: Quota that can be issued per
person and year after the launch phase.
- The quotas defined here (Units during launch and
Units after launch) are compared to the sum
total in the Samples/Year info area when issuing
samples.
Note:
Note: Define a configuration entry in Aurea CRM win using the
Date-based quota option
(
Sample category) to determine that quotas are
calculated from the end of the launch phase rather than using the calendar
year, see
CRM.core Administrator
Guide.
- Save. You can define different introductory phases and quotas for each business
area.
When entering samples, the system checks the number of items currently available (based
on the current date) to be distributed as samples based on the information in the
Sample Code and Samples/Year info
areas.
Note:
Note: If the No sample limit field is enabled for a person
(or the person is assigned to an appropriate category), the person can receive an
unlimited number of samples of each item, irrespective of whether a quota is defined for
the item.
Issuing and Sending Samples
You can enter the samples you have issued or still need to send either directly or using
the quick add function, see Quick Add.
To add a sample directly:
- Switch to the desired person and select New
> New Sample from the context menu.
- Enter Date and Business Area and click
on Next.
- Select the item.
In order to be able to enter an item as a sample, the following conditions
need to be met:
- The current date must be either during or after the launch phase (except for
items that are not subject to quotas).
- Enter the number of units issued as samples in the
Quantity issued field and the amount that you still need to
send in the Order quantity field.
- Enter additional data such as the Lot No.,
Status etc. You are automatically entered in the
Rep ID field.
- Save.
Note:
Note: You can access the
quick add function for samples from an activity.
In this case, information is automatically transferred from the activity to the sample
record (
Date,
Rep ID,
Business
Area,
MA_StaNo,
MA_SerNo).
When using the quick add function, a sample code needs to be defined for the rep’s
Business Area.You can define which items should be displayed
in the quick add area, see
Serial Entry Configurations (OTC) in the
Aurea CRM web Administrator Guide. The
Lot No. and
current quantity are displayed in the quick add area. Use the
Lots without
quantity configuration entry (
Inventory category)
to only display the lot number, see
CRM.core Administrator Guide and
Aurea CRM web Administrator Guide.Click
on the
Special Offer button in the quick add area to only display
samples for currently valid special offers; the key fields entered in the special offer
are transferred to any items added in the quick add area.
Issued Samples and Samples to be Sent
You can enter the following for each sample:
|
Field
|
Explanation
|
|
Stock
|
Determines the stock that the samples are deducted from. The quantity in
the Stock info area is automatically decreased by
the amount entered in the Quantity issued
field.
|
|
Quantity issued
|
Enter the number of samples that have been issued to the person
here.Enter negative numbers to determine that the quantity entered in
this field is added to the stock (if samples are returned).
|
|
Order quantity
|
Enter the number of samples that still need to be sent to this person
here.Quantities entered in the Order quantity
field are ignored in stock calculations, as these samples are generally
sent out directly from central stores and therefore have no influence on
a rep’s stocks.
|
|
Status
|
If you have entered data in the Order quantity
field, this field is set to "Ordered".
|
The available quota is calculated based on the values in the Quantity
issued and Order quantity fields.
Available Quota
Aurea CRM allows you to monitor the amount of samples (of an item) a person has received
and the amount they can still receive.
The currently available quota (i.e. the number of units of an item that a person can
still receive) is determined per item and customer based on information stored in
various info areas:
|
Info Area
|
Field
|
Explanation
|
|
Person
|
No sample limit
|
If this field is enabled for a person (or the person is
assigned to an appropriate category where No sample
limit is enabled), the person can receive an unlimited
number of samples of each item.
|
|
Sample Code
|
Allocated
|
If this field is disabled all persons can receive an unlimited
quantity of this item as samples.
|
|
Sample Code
|
Launch start
Launch end
|
Start and end date of the launch phase for the item. By
default, the available quota for an item is calculated for a calendar
year. For information on date-based quotas.
|
|
Sample Code
|
Units during launch
Units after launch
|
Maximum number of units of this item that a person can receive during and
after the introductory phase.
|
When entering samples, the system checks the date entered in the
Sample info area to determine whether the launch phase has
started or ended. The maximum available quote is calculated based on the data in the
Sample Code info area. The currently available quota is
calculated from this upper limit and the number of samples already issued to the person
this current year.
The available quota is updated in the Available Quota field in
the quick add area or when adding or editing a sample record once a new entry is made in
the Quantity issued and Order quantity
fields. If a person or sample item is not subject to a quota, ‘*’ is displayed in the
Available Quota field.
Note: If the available quota is exceeded, the record cannot be added. Your administrator
can define that records can still be added if the available quota is exceeded using the
Quota exceeded option (
Sample category)
in the
Configuration info area, see
CRM.core Administrator Guide. In this
case, a warning message is displayed if the quota is exceeded.
Date-based Quotas
By default, the available quota for an item is calculated for a calendar year. The quota
defined in the Units after launch field applies to the end of the
calendar year following the launch phase.
Your administrator can use the Date-based quota configuration
entry (Sample category) to define that the quota applies for a
full year after the last launch end date defined for the item, instead of until the end
of the calendar year, see CRM.core Administrator Guide.
If you are using date-based quotas, the quota is calculated per item based on the
End of Period entered in the sample code record. This is the
latest Launch end date + 1 year.
The available quota is calculated based on the currently valid record in the
Samples/Year info area (i.e. End of
Period > date the sample was issued). If no such record exists, it is
added automatically. The number of samples issued is calculated when adding the new
record.
Overview
Aurea CRM allows you to display an overview of the samples issued to a customer during
and after the launch phase, as well as an overview of any samples that still need to be
sent.
Samples/Year
The Samples/Year info area provides you with an overview of the
samples issued to a customer during and after the launch phase.
- Select
(Sales) > Search
Samples/Year.
The current number of samples issued per person, item and sample period is
displayed:
When issuing samples, Aurea CRM calculates the available quota based on
the number of samples that have been issued or still need to be sent.
Samples
Select
(Sales) > Samples and click on
search to list all samples that have been issued or that still need to be sent. Use the
context menu to switch to the company, person or activity that a sample belongs to.
