Articles

Practical guidance for medical device teams navigating compliance, quality systems and regulatory strategy.

Top 7 AI Prompts To Automate Your QMS (MCP)

So we shipped an MCP server to our eQMS software, Formwork, just recently, and here I'd like to share some prompt ideas. Feel free to steal them and 100x...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel 17 days ago
May 18, 2026

DMEA 2026 Thoughts: DiGAs Dead, More Scribes, Fewer Startups

So we just attended DMEA 2026, which is a large medtech conference in Berlin, and we had a great time! As we're a remote company, it's always great to get...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel about 1 month ago
May 05, 2026

Matrix Requirements Alternative: What Companies Choose

Here's the backstory: Matrix Requirements, a QMS software company, got sold to a private equity fund in around 2024 (which I wrote about here). Shortly...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel about 2 months ago
Apr 10, 2026

Dot Compliance Alternative: Better Fits For Faster-Moving Teams

If you are looking for a Dot Compliance alternative, here's the TLDR: Dot Compliance is the right choice for you if you love setting money on fire and enjoy...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel about 2 months ago
Apr 07, 2026

MasterControl Alternative: Better Options For Medical Device Startups

If you are looking for a MasterControl alternative, here's the TLDR: MasterControl is the right choice for you if you love setting money on fire and enjoy...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel about 2 months ago
Apr 07, 2026

SoftComply Pricing: Confusing (Just Like Jira)

Here's what I saw when researching SoftComply pricing. Let's just say that their website team might need to put in some work regarding site reliability:...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 3 months ago
Mar 09, 2026

MasterControl Pricing: Beyond Crazy

The eQMS industry is a weird industry. On its surface, eQMS software is not very complex - at the end of the day, what you get is a "Google Drive with...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 3 months ago
Feb 23, 2026

Why We Share Our Templates For Medical Device Compliance For Free

Here's what happens when I introduce myself to people at Healthcare conferences: "Hello, my name is Oliver, I run a medical device consulting company" At...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 4 months ago
Feb 05, 2026

The eQMS Graveyard: Enzyme Got Acquired

Back in 2018 (the "stone age of machine learning", as I call it), I got my first job at a medical software startup. We built a machine learning - backed...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 4 months ago
Jan 27, 2026

Don't Use Risk Priority Numbers In Your Risk Analysis (ISO 14971)

We recently came across the proposal to include something called "Risk Priority Numbers" in our eQMS software Formwork, and let me tell you, this is a...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 6 months ago
Dec 01, 2025

Why We're Publishing Our 30-Page EU MDR Roadmap For Free

Today, we're publishing our 30-page EU MDR Roadmap, worth hundreds (thousands?) of Euros, for free. What's the Roadmap? Think of it like a (very) long to-do...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 7 months ago
Nov 20, 2025

Can You Use the OpenAI API In Your Medical Device?

Update (2026/03): I've received some auditor feedback on this topic and updated the article below - I added the auditor opinions at the end. A startup...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 2 months ago
Mar 30, 2026

Clinical Evaluation Report: Literature Search - SaMD

Clinical Evaluation Report: Literature Search for Software as a Medical Device You managed to identify risks, the software requirements are defined and...

Clinical Evaluation Sebastian Skorka Updated 7 months ago
Nov 06, 2025

FDA Risk Classification for Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a vital and hands-on role in the United States, ensuring medical devices are safe and effective before they ever...

FDA Compliance Sebastian Skorka Updated 7 months ago
Nov 12, 2025

The Medical Device Product Development Journey: A Phase-by-Phase Guide

So, you have an idea for a medical device? Awesome! But how do you get from that "aha!" moment to a finished product that's safe, effective, and compliant?...

Quality Management Sebastian Skorka Updated 8 months ago
Oct 20, 2025

Design History File (DHF) for SaMD: Your Software's Design Story

Developing Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) is a complex process. Throughout the software development lifecycle – from the initial concept and...

FDA Compliance Sebastian Skorka Updated 8 months ago
Oct 07, 2025

Creating Turtle Diagrams for MDR & FDA Compliance

In the highly regulated world of medical devices, demonstrating robust process control isn't just good practice – it's a regulatory necessity. Both the EU...

Quality Management Sebastian Skorka Updated 6 months ago
Dec 11, 2025

Electronic Case Report Form - FDA vs. MDR

If you're in the medical device field, you know that clinical studies are often essential to prove your device is safe and does what it claims. This is...

FDA Compliance Sebastian Skorka Updated 8 months ago
Sep 29, 2025

The MDR Is Fundamentally Broken - Our Feedback To The EU

The EU recently asked for feedback on the MDR. Here's what we submitted: While many people here have shared thoughtful feedback, we think that the elephant...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel 8 months ago
Sep 26, 2025

SimplerQMS Pricing: Starts At $1,200

Let's look at the SimplerQMS pricing today, as SimplerQMS is a rather new QMS software out there. Call it "rather new" is a bit ironic, because one auditor...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 11 months ago
Jun 27, 2025

eQMS Data Models: Hard-Coded Entities vs. Flexible Entities

Besides all the ranting I usually do in this website, today I (surprisingly) had a constructive idea for an article. This is one of those "I wish someone had...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 11 months ago
Jun 26, 2025

Is Your Medical Device Safe? Understanding Biological Evaluation

Medical devices, from simple bandages to complex implants, are designed to help patients. But how do we ensure they don't cause harm when they interact with...

Biological Evaluation Sebastian Skorka Updated about 1 year ago
Jun 01, 2025

Authorised Representative For Non-EU Manufacturers

As a manufacturer based outside the European Union (EU) and without an EU subsidiary, you must appoint an Authorised Representative (AR) to market your...

Uncategorized Sebastian Skorka Updated about 1 year ago
May 31, 2025

The Ultimate Comparison: ISO 13485 vs. FDA 21 CFR

Manufacturers of medical devices need to set up a quality management system (QMS). However, the details of this set of SOPs and templates vary between the...

FDA Compliance Sebastian Skorka Updated about 1 year ago
May 21, 2025

Medical Device Codes: EMDN, UMDNS, GMDN and MDR

Once you embark on your regulatory journey towards CE certification, you will inevitably come across the strange land of medical device codes. It's not...

Quality Management Sven Piechottka Updated about 1 year ago
Apr 25, 2025

OpenRegulatory Sustainability & Governance: Will We Be Around 5 Years From Now?

Some companies ask us how "safe" it is to trust us, OpenRegulatory, when using our eQMS software. After all, you're entrusting us with your medical device...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated about 1 year ago
Mar 06, 2025

FormlyAI Pricing: Not Good For Startups (2026 Update + Dovetail)

Update (2025): Formly has removed its transparent pricing table and now only offers bespoke, "contact sales" individual pricing (sadly). See below for the...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 16 days ago
May 20, 2026

How to Document Separate Medical Device Software Components

Let's assume your software has various different components - and you have no clue how to separate medical device software components from other, non-medical...

Uncategorized Sven Piechottka Updated over 1 year ago
Dec 25, 2024

QT9 Pricing: Costs, Contracts, and Uncertainties

Here's all we know about the pricing of QT9's QMS Software. QT9 offers an array of quality management modules, and while their product offerings are more...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Dec 19, 2024

QMS Quality Manual: Quality Policy and Quality Objectives

You are just starting to set up your QMS quality manual? When setting up your QMS, this is one of the first documents slammed at your face. You describe your...

Quality Management Sven Piechottka Updated over 1 year ago
Dec 17, 2024

Matrix Requirements Got Sold: Here's What You Need To Know

As a vendor for eQMS software, we talk to potential customers all the time. That gives us an interesting opportunity to learn about new rumors in the medical...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Dec 19, 2024

Matrix Requirements Pricing: Huge Price Increase, 2026 Update

What's the Matrix Requirements pricing like in 2026? The company made multiple significant changes to its pricing structure, and multiple customers of ours...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 17 days ago
May 18, 2026

The EUDAMED Files: €9M/Year Budget and a €317K Hosting Mystery

For the first time ever, based on anonymized EU documents we've received, we're exposing the true state of EUDAMED. At the center of it: A gigantic €9M/year...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Nov 26, 2024

EUDAMED: Duplicate And Missing Certificates (BEUDAMED November 2024 Update)

Hey! Quick update on the technical situation of EUDAMED: We are screwed 😂 Okay, hold on, let me explain: Building BEUDAMED, a better EUDAMED database, gave...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Nov 14, 2024

Support Us: Link To OpenRegulatory

We spend a lot (a lot!) of our time working on stuff which we end up giving away for free - our free medical device (MDR) templates, the free tier of our...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 29, 2024

How To Purchase Formwork With The Startup Discount

Update (March 2025): We've changed Formwork's pricing. The good news for you is that the discounted price of 499€ (instead of 799€) is now available to...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Mar 05, 2025

Greenlight Guru vs. Qualio: QMS Software Comparison

Greenlight Guru vs. Qualio - which QMS software is better? Both Greenlight Guru and Qualio are QMS software providers, and both target the medtech / life...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 08, 2024

EUDAMED: How To Use It, And Why It Sucks

When the MDR came into effect, the European Commission also started building EUDAMED, which should server as a central database for all medical devices...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 07, 2024

Medical Device Accessories

Background: The Case of A Customer A company recently reached out because they received a nonconformity from their competent authority regarding a medical...

Getting Started Sven Piechottka Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 07, 2024

How To Do Formative Usability Testing For Medical Devices

So you have a medical device and you want to do formative usability testing, because you have to comply with the IEC 62366, and that's because your goal is...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Dot Compliance Price (QMS Software)

Here's all we know about the pricing of Dot Compliance's QMS Software. Dot Compliance offers multiple products in the compliance space. While their product...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

BEUDAMED: Better EUDAMED

EUDAMED. The idea behind it was so great! Here's the pitch: Instead of 27 medical device databases, one for each EU country, you'd only have one. So if...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Software (And Hardware) Test Runs in Formwork

So you want to learn about Software (or Hardware) Test Runs. So the first distinction here is that these are test runs, not the actual tests. A quick table!...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Software (And Hardware) Tests In Formwork

After you've documented some of your Software Requirements in Formwork, you now probably want to document some Software Tests. Why? Because the IEC 62304,...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Software Requirements (And Design Inputs) In Formwork

Managing your software requirements is probably one of the activities you'll spend your most time on. So what the hell are software requirements? In short,...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

The Formwork Manual

Everything you need to know about our eQMS software, Formwork. Quite a few of articles below are still in progress - you'll notice this if they aren't...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 28, 2024

Creating QMS Records in Formwork

Let's take a look how you create QMS records in Formwork. As a quick reminder, your QMS in Formwork has two types of "things": Documents and records. In...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 6 months ago
Nov 28, 2025

Thanks For Booking Your Free Consulting Call!

Hey there! Thanks for booking a call with us! :) To make the most of your call, I've collected some frequently asked questions here. If you read them and...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 7 months ago
Nov 10, 2025

Formwork eQMS Pricing, And When You Should Upgrade

One common question is when you should upgrade your Formwork subscription, and whether you lose data if you change your mind and downgrade. Let's take a...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Mar 05, 2025

Documenting Your Medical Device In Formwork

You want to document your medical device product in Formwork. Great choice! You probably don't know this yet, but choosing Formwork will save you a gigantic...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 6 months ago
Dec 02, 2025

IVDR Requirements: What You Need To Become Compliant

The Regulation (EU) 2017/746 on in-vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDR) sets the framework and requirements for - obviously - diagnostic medical devices....

IVDR Compliance Sebastian Skorka Updated 7 months ago
Nov 12, 2025

Reviewer Roles In Formwork

In Formwork, you can send out various "things" for review: Documents, Records and Change Requests. The common theme with all of these is that you don't...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Creating QMS Documents In Formwork

Let's see how you can manage your QMS documents in Formwork. First off, what's the difference between documents and records? In short, documents are...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Managing Your QMS In Formwork

So you want to set up your Quality Management System (QMS) in Formwork. Alright! When clicking on "QMS" in the top bar, you are greeted with this friendly...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Video Courses In Formwork

So you want to learn more about medical device compliance. Cool! The Formwork video courses are your best resource for accomplishing just that. First off,...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Getting Started With Formwork

Ah yes, you've finally gathered the courage to sign up for an eQMS software and deal with this whole messy affair of regulatory compliance for your medical...

Formwork eQMS Manual Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

How Do We Ensure the Post-Market Surveillance Under the IVDR?

Question: We are a manufacturer of in-vitro diagnostic medical device software. How do we ensure the post-market surveillance under the IVDR? Short answer:...

IVDR Compliance Sebastian Skorka Updated 7 months ago
Nov 13, 2025

Thanks For Booking Your Formwork Demo Call!

Hey there! Thanks for booking a Formwork demo call with us! :) To make the most of your call, I've collected some frequently asked questions here. If you...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 7 months ago
Nov 13, 2025

Thanks For Booking Your Call!

Hey there! Thanks for booking a call with us! :) To make the most of your call, I've collected some frequently asked questions here. If you read them and...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 7 months ago
Nov 13, 2025

Clinical Evidence for In-Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices

Clinical evidence - What is this? Clinical evidence for in-vitro diagnostic devices (IVDs) is gathered through performance evaluations, assessing scientific...

IVDR Compliance Sebastian Skorka Updated 6 months ago
Dec 09, 2025

MDR UDI: What It Is And How To Get It At GS1 Or IFA

Under the EU MDR, every medical device needs a so-called UDI, which stands for "Unique Device Identifier". The whole scheme has caused a huge amount of...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

The BfArM Processed Our Classification Request, And It Only Took 462 Days

Remember when I wrote about us submitting a BfArM classification request? In the meantime, our request has been processed and we've received the result. It...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 4 months ago
Jan 27, 2026

MDR Class I: Everything You Need To Know

We've posted a lot of stuff on MDR Class I in the past, and this article is my attempt to synthesise all that content into one short, sweet article for you....

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

One of those Bugs a Software Engineer lives for

Recently, while working on Formwork I came across one of those bugs that a Software Engineer lives for. What do I mean by that? It was very complicated,...

Engineering Saurabh Sikchi Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

You Want To Request Another Free Template? The Answer Is No.

We often get messages like these: “ i need a template for a performance evaluation acc. IVDR ” “ May I have a model post market serveilance plan for Product...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 6 months ago
Dec 04, 2025

IVDR Classification: Classification Of In-Vitro Diagnostic Devices

In this article, we'll walk you through the basic IVDR classification concepts for software as an IVD and look at some examples. The Regulation (EU) 2017/746...

IVDR Compliance Sebastian Skorka Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

We're Collaborating With BerlinCert, a Software-Focused Notified Body

We've started a collaboration with BerlinCert, a Notified Body which focuses on Software as a Medical Device (SaMD). Why would we do that? Martin Tettke,...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Software Validation: How To Do It (Pain From Hell)

Let me just start by saying that I think software validation is complete crap and an utterly unnecessary activity invented by regulators and bureaucrats....

Quality Management Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Qualio Price: What We Know So Far

If you're looking for eQMS software right now, you might be wondering what the Qualio price is. Don't worry, you're not alone! We've worked with 150+...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Greenlight Guru Price: Crazy increase (12/2025 update)

Update (12/2025): We've talked to a few customers who told us that Greenlight Guru is significantly raising their prices starting in 01/2026. They...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 6 months ago
Dec 15, 2025

Qualio Alternative: Don't Make This Mistake

Qualio is a popular QMS software, and many consulting customers ask us if we know of any Qualio alternatives. The problem with Qualio often is that it's...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Greenlight Guru Alternative: Enterprise Software Mistake?

Update (04/2026): We've successfully migrated a few companies away from Greenlight Guru and have updated this article with our experiences accordingly....

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated about 2 months ago
Apr 08, 2026

IEC 62304 PDF Download

You're probably looking for a free PDF download for the IEC 62304, the standard for software development for medical devices. If you're looking for a short...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 04, 2024

IEC 62366 PDF Download

You're probably looking for a free PDF download for the IEC 62366, the standard for risk management for medical devices. If you're looking for a short...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 04, 2024

ISO 14971 PDF Download

You're probably looking for a free PDF download for the ISO 14971, the standard for risk management for medical devices. If you're looking for a short...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 04, 2024

ISO 13485 PDF Download

You're probably looking for a free PDF download for the ISO 13485, the standard for quality management for medical devices. If you're looking for a short...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 09, 2024

Where Using ChatGPT For Regulatory Documentation Will Fail

A startup recently asked me if they can use Formwork to generate their entire technical documentation with our ChatGPT feature. We haven't built that feature...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

All You Need to Know About QMS Software

What the hell is QMS software, and do you need it? And how do you learn more about QMS software without falling asleep or being bombarded by sales calls from...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 8 months ago
Sep 24, 2025

Launching Formwork Starter: 49€ For QMS Software And Requirements Management

Update (07/2025): This article is outdated. We've since launched a different Starter tier for Formwork at 99€ / month (not 49€). While that's more expensive,...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 11 months ago
Jul 23, 2025

The Emergence Of Premium Notified Bodies: 100k€+ For Certifications

If you want to bring software as a medical device to the market under the MDR, it’s likely that it’s class IIa. And if it’s class IIa, you to get audited...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Post-Market Surveillance: The Ultimate Guide under MDR

Okay, you managed the ISO 13485 certification, walked through endless discussions with your notified body and finally you can put the CE sticker on your...

Quality Management Sebastian Skorka Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Unlocking Market Access: Navigating Reimbursement Challenges for Medical Device Startups in Europe

In the dynamic world of healthcare innovation, startups developing medical devices face a myriad of challenges, with reimbursement standing as a pivotal...

Blog Sebastian Skorka Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

The True Shadiness Of QMS Software For Medical Devices

If you want to bring a medical device to market, it’s likely you’re also looking for QMS software. And if you have no idea what any of those things are, then...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

QMS Software for Medical Devices (ISO 13485): Comparison

Updated in 09/2025 with new QMS software providers; also updated prices in 06/2025 as many providers of QMS software for medical devices have raised their...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 2 months ago
Mar 31, 2026

How MDD Devices Die: Two Case Studies From The Real World

When it came to regulating medical devices, in the past, we had this old thing which was called the MDD. Under the MDD, a lot of software as a medical device...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

No, Telemedicine Software Is Not Class IIa Under The MDR

How is Telemedicine software classified under the MDR? If you’re in Hamburg, the answer might be class I, class IIa, or not at all, depending on who you ask....

Regulatory News Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Free QMS Software: Google Drive, SharePoint, GitHub, GitLab

So your company works in a regulated industry (like medical devices, what we specialize in) and you have to set up a Quality Management System (QMS) for...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 9 months ago
Sep 19, 2025

ISO 13485 KPIs: Example Key Performance Indicators For Your ISO 13485 Processes

KPIs are like scorecards for organizations, helping them track how well they’re doing and if they’re moving closer to their goals. In the world of ISO 13485...

Quality Management Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

We're Making Medical Device Compliance 10x Cheaper

Building software products is hard. Very hard. If humanity had some sort of “magic formula” for always creating the right product, then every startup would...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Wise Business Is Great, Unless You Need Access To Your Money: Our Experience

Different people might have different priorities when it comes to business bank accounts. Some people prefer to walk into old buildings where people in suits...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

MDR Examples: Classification Examples for EU MDR Devices

When you're learning new things like the MDR, it's always useful to learn by example, so why the hell are no MDR examples available? So let's go through some...

Technical Documentation Sören Hornof Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 07, 2024

List of Controversial Auditor Opinions

A very-high-up person from a Notified Body recently responded to my LinkedIn post about Notified Bodies sometimes having weird expectations: “Quality of...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

IFA UDI Hack: Save Money By Using a Health Product Code (HPC)

The business of issuing numbers is probably very lucrative. The big issuing companies like GS1 and IFA charge random prices for their codes. And you have to...

Technical Documentation Sören Hornof Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Brace for Impact: The New MDR Transition Periods

Brace for Impact: The New MDR Transition Periods It has been much discussed and we covered it in our newsletter before: now - drum roll - the MDR deadline...

Regulatory News Sven Piechottka Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Time Zones in Rails

We received this message some months ago: “Hi! I just added the Intended Use document in Formwork. I noticed that the time stamp is wrong (15:07 instead of...

Engineering Ale Solano Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Automating Medical Device Compliance With QMS Software: Can you eQMS the pain away?

In medical device manufacturing, ensuring product quality, safety, and regulatory compliance are of paramount importance, but they also cause paramount pain....

QMS Software Sören Hornof Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Clinical Evaluation

In simple terms, your Clinical Evaluation is a rather lengthy document which looks a lot like a Bachelor’s thesis (yup). Its main goal is to show that your...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

July 2023 Updates: New Usability Articles, MDCG Q&A On Transition, Open Source QMS Software

I hope you’re having a great summer! Things have quieted down here in Berlin, besides the usual subtle chaos of manufacturers and auditors trying to find out...

Regulatory News Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Open Source QMS Software Overview: GitLab As QMS?

I recently googled “Open Source QMS Software” and one of the top results actually was a page on SourceForge. That made me realize that I’m old. Do you...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Supplier Management Under ISO 13485:2016

Let’s look at how to perform supplier management under the ISO 13485:2016. Effective supplier management is critical for controlling risks, ensuring the...

Quality Management Sören Hornof Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Maybe Harmonized Standards Are Becoming Freely Available Soon

Let’s start off my quoting my 30-year-old self, in the depths of the pandemic of 2020, unemployed and ranting about standards: “You might think that if...

Regulatory News Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

How To Do a Summative Usability Testing For IEC 62366 Compliance

Alright, so you were probably reading the IEC 62366 summary and now you ended up here, wondering how the hell to actually do a summative usability testing...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

The IEC 62366 (Usability) Summary: All You Need To Know (It's Not Much)

Oh man, where to start! While probably not much changed for you, as you were happily reading along our Blueprint article and came across this one as simply...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

People You Need: Person Responsible for Regulatory Compliance and Medical Device Consultants

When you’re becoming a medical device manufacturer in Germany, there are two sorts of people you need. The good news is that you don’t need to employ all of...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

MDD Class I: Here's What You Have to Do Before May 2021

I’m currently being approached by many startups who want to bring their medical software to market while the MDR is not yet in effect. So here’s a quick...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Do We Need a Call?

Hey! Thanks for your interest in talking to me. First off, I’m also interested in talking to you! This is not about me trying to make people go away....

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Before Our Call: Frequently Asked Questions

Hey there! This article contains our most frequently asked questions. I typically send this around when scheduling calls so that people pre-read it...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

How We Keep Your Formwork Data Safe

Many companies ask us how we keep their data in Formwork safe. That’s a very reasonable question because you’re entrusting us with very important data which...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Is Formwork an Enterprise Software? Does It Have [Enterprise Feature X]?

Some of the people interested in Formwork expect Formwork to be an enterprise eQMS software, with all the associated features. They would send me an email...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Setting Up a Quality Management System (QMS) in Google Drive

Software for Quality Management Systems can roughly be divided into two categories. You can either purchase specialized regulatory software which has...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Clinical Evaluation: How to Write a Regulatory Compliant Literature Review

A clinical evaluation is required for all medical devices according to the MDR. The main task of a clinical evaluation is to identify pertinent data in...

Clinical Evaluation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

GitHub QMS: We No Longer Recommend It

While I wrote up a rather balanced post on the pros and cons of using GitHub / GitLab as your QMS software, I’d like to follow this up with our combined...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Enterprise QMS Software: Don't Waste Your Money

So you’re looking for enterprise QMS software for your medical device compliance, and you’re wondering which software to choose. You’ve checked out a few...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Medical Device Translation: 3 Steps For Medical Device Software

Every now and then, these questions regarding medical device translations come up in our consulting work: • Which device information or parts of the device...

Technical Documentation Sven Piechottka Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 09, 2024

How to Get a UDI (Unique Device Identifier) For MDR Compliance

Here's our guide on how to get your MDR UDI! But first off, if you're actually looking for an overview over the whole topic, check out our overview article...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

What Is QMS Software, and Do You Need It?

Since we launched our own QMS Software, I’ve been approached a gazillion times by companies who wanted to buy it and requested a demo - many of them wonder...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 09, 2024

FMEA, Part 1: Risk Acceptance Matrix (ISO 14971 Risk Analysis)

Check It Out: Free Video Available While you're gathering your motivation to read yet another article on regulation, let me jump in briefly! We've actually...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

ISO 14971 Walkthrough

When developing software as a Medical Device, you need to do Risk Management. What’s that? In simple terms, you need to think about what could go wrong with...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Clinical Evaluation Report (CER) For Medical Devices: 3 Easy Steps

When certifying software as a medical device (or any medical device, really), you need a Clinical Evaluation. If I had to sum it up in one sentence, the...

Clinical Evaluation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

DiGAs and the Telekom Cloud Run On Chinese Software From Huawei. Say What?

Okay, let me get a few things straight before starting my rant. DiGAs are great, and creating incentives for building more (Healthcare) tech in Germany is...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Doing a Software Release in Compliance With IEC 62304

The 62304 doesn’t have many requirements regarding Software Release. They’re mostly about whether you have finished all other activities prior to releasing...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Software System Testing Based on the IEC 62304

The IEC 62304 requires you to do Software System Testing. What’s that? And how does it relate to software verification? According to that article, software...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Medical Device Software Architecture Documentation (IEC 62304)

The IEC 62304 requires you to document your Software Architecture. As always, the standard doesn’t provide many details on how you should actually do that....

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Writing An Intended Use for Software as a Medical Device

The Intended Use is the most important document, ever, if you want to certify your software as a medical device. Why? It states what your software does and...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Software Verification For Medical Device Software (IEC 62304)

Software Verification is another of those regulatory buzzwords. Unless you’ve worked at an enterprise company before, chances are that you have no idea what...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Getting The ISO 13485 And Other Standards For Less Than 30€

You might think that if certain rules apply to all companies of an industry that those rules should be freely available. Like law. Law texts are freely...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 6 months ago
Dec 11, 2025

How to Classify Software as a Medical Device Under the MDR? (MDCG 2021-24)

Alright! Now the MDR is here and nobody really has any clue on how to classify software. Well, we consultants typically pretend to understand it but the...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Setting Up a Quality Management System (QMS) in GitHub / GitLab

Update: We no longer recommend using GitHub / GitLab as your QMS software. I wrote down our thoughts in a separate post (read it here) because I didn’t want...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Choosing a Notified Body

If you’re anything higher than class I, you need a Notified Body to certify your software as a Medical Device. What the Hell is a Notified Body? They are...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Medical Device Classification

Medical devices are treated differently based on which class they are in. The MDR (EU) and the FDA have different systems of classifying medical devices. We...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

100.000€ Spent and Never Done (Fail)

I meet many startups working on Healthcare software. They all have their own consultant stories to share. Unfortunately, those are often failures. The...

Case Studies Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Writing Software Requirements Based on the IEC 62304

Before we get started: I also uploaded a free template for a software requirements list - have a look! What the Hell are Software Requirements? Software...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Writing Technical Documentation

What the Hell is Technical Documentation? The Technical Documentation (or Technical File) is what you hand in to your Notified Body to get your product...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Writing a Software Development and Maintenance Plan for IEC 62304 Compliance

Check It Out: Free Video Available While you're gathering your motivation to read yet another article on regulation, let me jump in briefly! We've actually...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Four Problems For DiGA Companies In The Future

Let me start off with this: I think DiGAs are good. The reasoning behind them is good. They bring innovation to an industry which was chronically starved of...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

IEC 62304 Walkthrough

So you’ve decided to develop software which is a Medical Device. Now you need to develop it in an IEC 62304 - compliant way. Resources on how to achieve that...

Technical Documentation Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Don't Hire Senior Regulatory Affairs People

So you’ve founded your fancy new medical software startup and realized you’re developing a Medical Device. Great! You’ve also realized that regulatory...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

The MDR Class I Software Situation

Startups often ask us: Does MDR class I software exist? How does MDR class I software look like? And what features can be included in MDR class I software?...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated about 1 year ago
Apr 19, 2025

CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action): What Is It and How To Be Compliant?

So, when you start out on your exciting (yes) regulatory journey, pretty early on you’re going to come across the word “CAPA”. Seasoned regulatory...

Quality Management Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 07, 2024

ISO 13485

The ISO 13485 is the standard for quality management in the medical device industry. This page is a collection of all our articles on this quality management...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

IEC 62366

The IEC 62366 is about usability of medical device software. In practice, it’s mostly about running usability tests with users. This page is a collection of...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

IEC 62304

The IEC 62304 describes how to develop and document software for medical devices. This page contains all our articles we’ve posted so far on this standard,...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

ISO 14971

ISO 14971 is the standard for risk management of medical device software. This page is a collection of all our articles on risk management. We also publish...

Uncategorized Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

We Got Audited By a Competent Authority. Here's What You Need To Know.

We got audited by a competent authority - the LaGeSo in Berlin to be exact, as that’s where our company is located. Let me tell you how it went and what you...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

We're Sending Out Honest Rejections Now

I’ve interviewed a lot of people. When I left my last job in 2020, I counted over 220, and, predictably, that number has increased since OpenRegulatory...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Generate Your Technical Documentation Automatically: Formwork Audit Export

Starting today, Formwork can automatically generate your Technical Documentation. This is really exciting and can save you a lot of time. View the video...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Using Formwork as a Regulatory Consultant

Prior to launching Formwork, we did a lot of regulatory consulting. It always was our goal to be a profitable company, and doing consulting helped us bring...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Copying Records is Tedious.. Not Anymore!

Copying records is tedious. What do I mean by that? The documentation of your medical device software contains many records. Examples for records are your...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

No Lock-In, Ever: Formwork Batch Export

When we built Formwork, we had two goals: 1. Don’t be evil. 2. Don’t suck. While this may seem obvious for any software product in a free-market economy, it...

QMS Software Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

We're Launching Free Consulting

OpenRegulatory started out as an experiment of me brain-dumping my regulatory knowledge to a website. I was like, “well, I’m leaving this field, but it would...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

The Great Notified Body Survey

Choosing a Notified Body is one of the most momentous decisions for your Medical Device company. If your auditor is tech-savvy and pragmatic, you’ll be...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

The IVDR Might Require 264 Notified Bodies

Happy New Year! We had some restful holidays and I hope you did, too. Here's our first newsletter of 2022 with some IVDR news and minor template updates....

Regulatory News Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

ISO 13485 Amendment, Templates, User Manuals

Quite a few regulatory things have happened recently! Before we wrap up the year, let's take a quick look. We'll be off starting next week, so happy holidays...

Regulatory News Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

MDR Classification Chaos and User Manuals

Hey you, we've published some new articles about regulatory stuff and the things we do. The first one is about the not-so-helpful new MDCG 2021-24 regarding...

Regulatory News Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

FBE GmbH: Solving Problems and Reviewing Documents For Less Than 2.000€

Imagine you’re a small company developing software as a medical device. Your software is done (nice!), and you’ve created some documentation. But now you’re...

Case Studies Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

OpenRegulatory Newsletter #1: Conference

First off, why the hell are you getting this email? Simple: You signed up for our newsletter at openregulatory.com and probably forgot about that. That's my...

Regulatory News Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

Exakt Health: MDD Class I Compliant in 3 Months

Let's look at Exakt Health - because if you’re a Healthcare startup developing software as a medical device, you’re probably wondering: How long does it take...

Case Studies Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

No Cookie (Consent Dialogue) For You

Similar to what GitHub pulled off recently, I decided to remove all tracking cookies from OpenRegulatory. Cookie consent dialogues suck. You display a popup...

Blog Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated over 1 year ago
Oct 01, 2024

EU MDR: Step-By-Step Guide To Becoming Compliant

Update (11/2025): We recently our 30-page PDF roadmap for getting your medical device certified under the EU MDR. We used to sell this for thousands of...

Getting Started Dr. Oliver Eidel Updated 7 months ago
Nov 20, 2025