Optimize Your IVF Clinic Operations: Facilitating Growth Through Cold Chain Management

Fertility clinics, hospitals, surgical centers and clinical research institutes are all part of the global service provider network for IVF. In 2014, fertility clinics and hospitals made up about three-fourths of the market, which is segmented across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

The global proliferation of laboratories using vitrification of embryos dictates that shipping and validated, long-term storage are very important business and economic considerations for IVF service and surrogacy providers.

Operationally, significant factors need to be considered in support of the aforementioned demands. Providers need to determine how to best approach their needs for long-term storage and global shipment. Considerations include direct capital investment (facilities and equipment purchase), staffing and overhead allocations, equipment maintenance and qualification, regulatory requirements, monitoring and legal exposure to their business. Additionally, with the rise in reproductive tourism and surrogacy, substantial demands are being made on clinic staff to support the movement of reproductive materials globally. This includes the need to understand international shipping regulations, permitting and regulatory or policy decisions globally.

In addition to the resources and expertise required for international shipping and long-term storage, there are multiple other factors that need to be considered including: the time required to manage the logistics of the transportation; clinic coordination; establishment of shipping relationships; and the purchase and maintenance of cryogenic dry vapor shippers to transport the materials, which require specialization. In our experience, many times it is high-salaried laboratory personnel who are dedicating time to logistics planning and management!

In this webinar, the speakers will discuss what you need to know to make the best decisions for your clinic and intended parents when planning an operational strategy for both storage and shipping of reproductive materials, domestically and internationally. Specifically, the following will be addressed:

Long-term Storage

• Cost and facility considerations
• Monitoring and regulatory demands
• Backup and emergency management needs
• Training and compliance
• Inventory management
• Legal considerations

Shipping

• Current shipping requirements and considerations
• Global changes in policy and regulatory restrictions
• What to expect in the customs clearance process
• Equipment management and qualification
• Logistics partners
• Permitting and documentation demands
• Intended parent interaction

Speakers

Tamie Joeckel, Senior Vice President of Client Services, Cryoport

Tamie Joeckel has a diverse background in both IT and Pharmaceutical supply chain management. Starting her career as a systems and change management consultant with Arthur Andersen & Co., Joeckel provided ERP system design and consulting services to distribution and manufacturing companies. Joeckel has extensive experience in pharmacovigilance and commercialization services and was formerly the vice president of trade and business development for AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group, a Fortune 25 company and the largest specialty Pharmaceutical services provider in the world. In that role, Joeckel participated in the commercial launch strategies for more than 20 specialty biologic drugs in the U.S. – working with manufacturers and partners on REMS management, therapy compliance and adherence programs and cold chain distribution strategies. More recently, Joeckel focused on the supply chain for clinical trial supplies and was the senior director of global business development and client care at PAREXEL, where she managed a global staff responsible for clinical trial materials and supplies shipping to more than 100 countries and supporting more than 600 active clinical trials. Joeckel holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from East Central State University and has participated in graduate and high impact leadership courses at Duke University and Columbia University.

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Shannon Curiel, Director of Sales, Reproductive Medicine (IVF), Cryoport

Shannon Curiel is director of sales, reproductive medicine (IVF) at Cryoport. Curiel launched her career in sales and logistics when joining FedEx, starting a 15-year adventure in logistics management – one that included complex sales and the coordination of medical and non-medical shipments worldwide. At Cryoport, Curiel identified the unique needs of fertility clinics and their patients for worldwide cryogenic shipping. For the past six years, she has worked with clinics and patients, focusing on building advanced cryogenic logistics solutions specializing in cold chain management. She is deeply involved in the end-to-end logistics for shipping IVF domestically and internationally. Curiel holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Stephen F. Austin State University.

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