Samples

Learn how to manage the distribution of samples by your field staff.

Sample management is important for pharmaceutical products and encompasses the following features:

You can define that certain persons are not subject to quotas, i.e they may receive any number of samples of any item.
You can define the launch phase per item and business area and determine how many samples (i.e. the quota) may be distributed during and after the launch phase. The end of the launch phase is the latest end date in all an item’s sample codes.
Use the Sample info area to store how many samples of an item have been issued to a person and how many still need to be sent. The quick add function is available for entering samples.
Note: You can access the quick add area for samples from the Activity info area. The samples entered there are linked to the activity record.
When entering samples, Aurea CRM automatically verifies whether the available quota is exceeded.
Use the Stock field (in the Sample info area) to determine which stocks the samples should be deducted from. When reps issue samples, the corresponding rep’s stock is decreased by the quantity entered in the Quantity issued field.
You can display an overview of all samples you have issued to a person over the course of a year in the Samples/Year info area. You can display a list of all samples issued and still to be sent in the Sample info area.

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.