#370: Meet a Guru: Jamie Bihary

Global Medical Device Podcast · 30 May 2024 · 32m · Episode 370

What this episode covers

Jamie Bihary, a Medical Device Guru at Greenlight Guru, explains her transition from biomedical engineering to helping companies migrate from legacy Quality Management Systems (QMS) to electronic QMS (EQMS). She details the challenges of document migration, emphasizing the importance of clean room environmental monitoring to prevent endotoxin contamination and the value of internal audits in maintaining compliance. Bihary highlights Greenlight Guru’s partner network and support systems, advising startups to leverage consultants and realistic planning to navigate the complexities of QMS implementation.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Being an Engineer · 37m

    S1E12 Simplifying Quality Management | Jon Speer

    Jon Speer, founder of Greenlight Guru, explains how his frustration with managing medical device quality via Excel spreadsheets led to the creation of a dedicated QMS software platform. He details the transition from chemical engineering to medical device systems, highlighting the specific pain points of manual data merging and the high validation burden for electronic records. The episode covers Greenlight Guru’s development, its focus on design controls and traceability matrices, and the regulatory challenges of FDA submissions and ISO 13485 certification for startups.

  • Let's Combinate · 13m

    215 - Why Aren’t Technical People Leading Drug-Device Audits?

    Subhi Saadeh, Founder of Let’s Combinate BioWorks, explains why engineers in pharma and medical devices should become auditors, arguing that technical expertise combined with audit methodology creates the most effective auditors. He details how auditing provides a system-level perspective, revealing how design decisions ripple through Quality Management Systems (QMS) and identifying systemic root causes that isolated engineering work often misses. Saadeh addresses common misconceptions, such as the view that auditing is merely bureaucratic paperwork, and reframes it as a critical tool for building regulatory fluency and career versatility across industries like aerospace and medical devices. He concludes with practical steps for engineers to enter the field, including shadowing internal audits, learning audit frameworks like ISO 13485, and seeking mentorship from experienced professionals.

  • Let's Combinate · 52m

    128 - Former FDA Inspector and Managing Consultant, Vin Cafiso: Cadavers/Autopsies, Tales from FDA Inspections, Understanding the QMSR, and Quality Culture

    Vin Cafiso, former FDA Consumer Safety Officer and Managing Consultant at Practical Compliance Results, discusses the transition from the Quality System Regulation (QSR) to the Quality Management System Regulation (QMSR) and its impact on small medical device companies. He explains how FDA inspection methodologies are shifting from issue-focused 483s to process-based QSET audits, emphasizing the importance of understanding quality culture through simple engagement rather than rigid metrics. Cafiso shares insights from his career at companies like BD and Smith & Nephew, highlighting how starting as an investigator builds a strong foundation for industry roles by providing a broad view of quality systems across diverse products and company sizes.

  • Let's Combinate · 30m

    100 - PQMCoach, Our First Recording, Quality (Big Q/little q), Why Predictive Quality Management, and Communicating Quality with Larry Mager

    Larry Mager, Principal at Mgmt-Ctrl and founder of PQMCoach.com, discusses his evolution from a Fortune 500 quality engineer to a startup operator who built a Quality Management System (QMS) from scratch for a cardiovascular device. He explains the shift from 'Big Q' compliance to 'Little Q' operational excellence, detailing how he navigated an FDA consent decree at a large manufacturer and later moved into consulting to address communication barriers in quality management. Mager advocates for Predictive Quality Management (PQM) and the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle as universal tools for improving business performance across pharma, medical devices, and CROs.

  • Being an Engineer · 51m

    S5E29 Steve Gompertz | Medical Device Quality Control & Regulatory Requirements

    Steve Gompertz, a partner at QRx Partners with prior leadership roles at Medtronic, Boston Scientific, St. Jude Medical, and Pelican Biothermal, explains how to build scalable quality management systems for medical device companies. He details the evolution of regulatory frameworks, noting the shift toward stricter EU standards and the integration of AI and cybersecurity into device compliance. Gompertz emphasizes tailoring quality systems to company size, using a case study of a client who reduced FDA findings from dozens to zero by implementing a holistic, process-connected system rather than a checklist approach. He also advocates for concurrent engineering and cross-functional teams to accelerate development while maintaining rigorous safety standards.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Global Medical Device Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.