Drug & Device News

In an effort to advance President Obama's goal of promoting greater governmental transparency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently launched a new performance management system that will make it easier for the public to monitor the inner workings of the agency. The system, known as FDA-TRACK, will allow the public to observe some of the goings-on in more than 100 FDA program offices, through data that is gathered monthly. “FDA-TRACK will bring the operations of this historically opaque Agency into the daylight and help us be even more responsive as we work to protect the public health,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D., in a statement. The system monitors performance indicators in four categories: 1) Common Measures ' Agency-wide measures applicable to each of the more than 100 program offices; 2) Key Center Director Measures ' Center-specific measures that are applicable to each Center and are central to the Center's priorities and strategic goals; 3) Program Measures ' Program office-specific measures that are applicable to the office; and 4) Key Projects ' Performance for Key Projects is measured through achievement of the stated milestones within the project's plan. For information on how to locate specific data, see the FDA release at: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/track/default.htm.