Author: Suzanne Broussard, PhD  | November 9, 2020  

FDA’s recently finalized modifications to the electronic Medical Device Reporting (eMDR) system include the addition of new fields to harmonize with terminologies set by the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF). These changes are designed to “improve transparency and analysis of the MDR data contained in the public Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database” and are part of the FDA’s push for regulatory harmonization. 

Device manufacturers now have until February 28, 2021 to use IMDRF codes instead of the retired Patient Problem Codes and Device Component Codes. The original production deployment date of September 7, 2020 was extended to give manufacturers a little more time to adapt to the changes.  

Here is a summary of the updates to the eMDR system

• Includes new elements for Summary Report and NOE (Number of Events) based on FDA Form 3500A so that submitters will not need to report this information in B5 (Event Narrative) with precise text formatting  
• Addition of adverse event codes to harmonize with IMDRF Annex E, F, G Codes  
• FDA Adverse Event codes update that affect the Device Problem Codes and Manufacturer Evaluation Code 
• New options in the patient gender field 
• New elements or changes to Exemption Number reporting, indications to submission environments, and B5 and H1 (now mandatory) to reject options not reported properly 
• Enable a reporter to identify whether the report relates to a combination product 
• Combination product fields added to allow submitters to include information of up to 20 drugs within a device-led combination product adverse event report 

The current eMDR reflect FDA’s updates to Form 3500A, which is used by medical device manufacturers, importers, distributors, and user facilities to report diverse events and other system enhancements.