FACT Inspection & Accreditation Virtual Workshop and FACT-ASTCT Quality Boot Camp Draw Record Attendance
The second month of 2021 brought success by way of greatly increased access to FACT’s education for an expanded online audience. FACT held its second virtual Inspection & Accreditation Workshop on February 4th and first virtual FACT-ASTCT Quality Boot Camp on February 5th. Though the pandemic prevented the conference from taking place in Hawaii during the TCT meetings, it could not stop the cellular therapy community from catching up with dearly missed colleagues over virtual coffee and continuing to advance their programs via e-learning. Over 300 individuals joined each of the live events resulting in record attendance for both the workshop and the boot camp.
We send a huge thank you to our workshop chairs, Dr. Dennis Gastineau and Dr. Jean Sanders; our boot camp chairs, Dr. Kimberly Kasow and Therese Dodd; the FACT Education and Quality Management committees; our fabulous presenters and facilitators; and, of course, our attendees for their abundance of energy and enthusiasm.
FACT Inspection & Accreditation Virtual Workshop – February 4, 2021
The workshop day was divided into morning and afternoon sessions. The morning catered to individuals new to or relatively inexperienced with FACT Standards and the accreditation process. The sessions included:
- An overview of FACT Accreditation
- A review of the compliance application process
- How to prepare for an inspection
- A virtual tour of an accredited clinical program
- Common challenges clinical programs encounter & how to correct the deficiencies
- How to maintain FACT Accreditation
The afternoon was prepared with more advanced content for attendees that had previously attended a workshop and were more familiar with FACT Accreditation. The sessions included:
- How to prepare for a FACT virtual inspection
- A sneak peek at the Eighth Edition for Cellular Therapy Standards
- Data management
- Outcome analysis
FACT-ASTCT Quality Boot Camp – February 5, 2021
The boot camp focused on a holistic approach to the quality system by featuring core quality concepts in the presentations and interactive sessions. The boot camp showed attendees how to navigate the quality system from start to finish. The sessions included:
- What to consider for performing a feasibility needs assessment from a new IEC program perspective
- An overview of the change control process and its development for new or changing services
- How to execute the risk assessment process and plan with help from a matrix table
- Reviewing what to validate and how the validation process works
- How to establish quality indicators
- An overview of auditing in terms of what, when, and how
- Interactive discussions to reinforce the concepts of change control, risk assessment, validation, and audits
Both the workshop and the boot camp included optional sessions at lunch. The first session was an interview with Dr. Nelson Hamerschlak and Dr. Andrea Kondo from the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in São Paulo, Brazil. The transplant program leaders discuss how FACT Accreditation has benefited their program and prepared them to safely manage patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second session was a speech from incoming FACT President, Catherine Bollard, about her vision for FACT as we move forward. (Click on the images below to watch the videos free of charge!) Jeopardy was a popular segment in both conferences as participants enjoyed reinforcing concepts discussed throughout the day in a fun and interactive method.
The end of the day closed with a third optional session led by FACT IT Business Analyst, Alisa Forsythe, during which she trained accredited users on the FACT Portal.
Click on the images to watch the videos free of charge!
We look forward to FACT’s next Processing and Apheresis Accreditation & Inspection Workshop and Quality Boot Camp on Thursday, May 6 and Friday, May 7, 2021!
