Case Study · Quality teaching example

Complaint Management Workflow Change

A complaint workflow change affects intake, reportability assessment, escalation, approvals, timers, electronic records, and downstream reporting.

Author
Sandip Thorat
Published
12 September 2026
Last reviewed
12 September 2026
Version
1.0
Content type
Practitioner guidance
Primary references
See related regulations, guidance, and approved procedures

Standard case study record

Scope and decision fields

Read these fields before the detailed worked case. All organizations, identifiers, test outcomes, and decisions are fictional teaching material.

GxP Assessment
Complete intake, timely reportability assessment, approval, audit history, and retained record support regulatory and Quality obligations.
Change or Issue
An eQMS workflow is changed to support a new complaint intake channel and revised escalation roles.
Functions Affected
  • Complaint intake and duplicate detection
  • Reportability decision routing
  • Due-date calculation and escalation
  • Medical and Quality approval
  • Record export and submission interface
Potential Impact
A potentially reportable complaint can be assessed late, incorrectly, or without required review.
Deviations / Known Issues
A fictional record created near midnight uses server time and shortens the reporting window by one day.

Situation

An eQMS workflow is changed to support a new complaint intake channel and revised escalation roles.

Intended Use

Create complaint records, assess reportability, route investigation and medical review, control due dates, approve conclusions, and retain the record.

Decision Summary

Decision elementCase record
GxP assessmentComplete intake, timely reportability assessment, approval, audit history, and retained record support regulatory and Quality obligations.
Potential impactA potentially reportable complaint can be assessed late, incorrectly, or without required review.
Known issueA fictional record created near midnight uses server time and shortens the reporting window by one day.
Validation conclusionRelease is withheld until the approved business timezone controls the due date and regression passes.

GxP Assessment

Complete intake, timely reportability assessment, approval, audit history, and retained record support regulatory and Quality obligations.

Affected GxP Functions

  • Complaint intake and duplicate detection
  • Reportability decision routing
  • Due-date calculation and escalation
  • Medical and Quality approval
  • Record export and submission interface

Failure Scenarios

  • Required intake data is omitted
  • Duplicate complaints split the investigation
  • Reportability route is bypassed
  • Clock starts from the wrong date
  • Approval is associated with the wrong revision

Potential Impact

A potentially reportable complaint can be assessed late, incorrectly, or without required review.

Existing Controls

  • Mandatory fields
  • Duplicate search
  • Workflow gates
  • Escalation dashboard
  • Quality review and audit trail

Existing Evidence

  • Validated base workflow
  • Supplier engine regression
  • Approved business procedure
  • Existing submission-interface validation

Evidence Gaps

  • New intake source
  • Legacy record transition
  • Role remapping
  • Clock calculation across time zones

Testing Approach

  • Script material intake, timing, and routing branches
  • Challenge missing information, duplicate, unauthorized action, and overdue escalation
  • Explore concurrent updates and interrupted approval
  • Verify audit trail, signature meaning, export, and downstream acknowledgement

Deviations or Known Issues

A fictional record created near midnight uses server time and shortens the reporting window by one day.

Validation Conclusion

Release is withheld until the approved business timezone controls the due date and regression passes.

Reassessment Criteria

  • Regulatory decision rule change
  • Intake channel or interface change
  • Role or escalation change
  • Supplier workflow update
  • Late-reporting incident