Data Retrieval a Major Challenge for Pharma, Survey Finds

May 5, 2008
QC and drug safety demand quick information access, but the drug industy still has some issues in managing data, the precursor to managing knowledge.   A recent survey of 1000 professionals (228 of them working for the drug industry) by the software firm, QKnow Technologies, found that retrieving information was a major problem across all industries, but particularly in pharma. 71% of pharma respondents say they keep critical information mainly in electronic files. However, an equal number  find that searching hard drives/network drives for electronic documents and emails that they have "read but cannot find" hurts their productivity at work. This was the largest percentage compared to all other industries including Financial (57%), Insurance (56%) and manufacturing (39%). 11% of the pharmaceutical professionals found themselves most frustrated when trying to locate emails, attachments and documents they need to perform daily tasks. This was the largest percentage compared to all other industries including Financial (5%), Insurance (9%) and Manufacturing (3%). Out of all the industries, QKnow found that professionals in the pharmaceutical industry spent more time searching for their misplaced and lost emails and electronic documents – 14% spent more than 2 hrs (per day) compared to 11% in Financial and Insurance and 8% in Manufacturing. Makes one wonder what the numbers for FDA, which is modernizing its IT infrastructure, would be.. (Or, for that matter, for those of us working in the publishing industry?) AMS
QC and drug safety demand quick information access, but the drug industy still has some issues in managing data, the precursor to managing knowledge.   A recent survey of 1000 professionals (228 of them working for the drug industry) by the software firm, QKnow Technologies, found that retrieving information was a major problem across all industries, but particularly in pharma. 71% of pharma respondents say they keep critical information mainly in electronic files. However, an equal number  find that searching hard drives/network drives for electronic documents and emails that they have "read but cannot find" hurts their productivity at work. This was the largest percentage compared to all other industries including Financial (57%), Insurance (56%) and manufacturing (39%). 11% of the pharmaceutical professionals found themselves most frustrated when trying to locate emails, attachments and documents they need to perform daily tasks. This was the largest percentage compared to all other industries including Financial (5%), Insurance (9%) and Manufacturing (3%). Out of all the industries, QKnow found that professionals in the pharmaceutical industry spent more time searching for their misplaced and lost emails and electronic documents – 14% spent more than 2 hrs (per day) compared to 11% in Financial and Insurance and 8% in Manufacturing. Makes one wonder what the numbers for FDA, which is modernizing its IT infrastructure, would be.. (Or, for that matter, for those of us working in the publishing industry?) AMS
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