Execute Compliant Sample Operations in the Field
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Explain how sample drop validation works during visit submission.
- Describe how valid sample drops update inventory, sample limits, and territory allocations.
- Distinguish HCP limit enforcement from territory allocation enforcement.
- Identify the configuration chain that supports runtime sample validation.
Validate Sample Drops at Submission
In the previous units, you configured the foundation for compliant sample distribution: an inventory hierarchy that tracks stock by product, location, quantity, and batch, and compliance guardrails. It caps how much an HCP or HCO can receive and how much a territory can distribute. Now those records need to work together during a provider visit.
One piece is already in place before the first visit, the representative's initial inventory count, which gives the system a verified starting balance. You'll work with counts and reconciliation in the next unit.
In this unit, you follow a sample drop into the field. First, a valid disbursement updates inventory, provider allowance, territory allocation, and transaction history. Then two blocked examples show how Sample Management stops a drop that exceeds an account limit or a territory allocation.
Submit a Valid Sample Drop
A sample drop is where the inventory model and the compliance rules finally meet. When a rep records a disbursement, Sample Management checks several connected records at once: The rep has stock on hand, the product is active for sampling, the account holds an initialized Provider Sample Limit, and the territory has enough remaining allocation for the period. Each check guards a different part of the process—physical supply, account eligibility, and regional budget.
Early in the Immunexis launch, Evan Casto visits an eligible HCP in San Francisco North. The provider is below the annual Immunexis limit, the territory has budget remaining, and Evan has stock in his assigned location. He enters a two-unit Immunexis 50mg drop—within the per-visit cap—and submits the visit. The drop passes validation.
After submission, Salesforce updates every related record. Evan's Product Item and Product Batch Item drop by two units, the HCP's remaining Immunexis allowance updates, the San Francisco North allocation balance falls, and the transaction history logs the disbursement for audit. The valid drop becomes part of the same governed record chain the admins configured earlier. Field activity, inventory movement, limit tracking, and audit history all stay connected.
Block an HCP Limit Violation
Compliant distribution also needs a hard stop when a drop would break an account rule. With Limit Enforcement Type set to Error, any submission that exceeds the per-visit or per-period cap is blocked.
Later in the launch, Evan tries a three-unit Immunexis drop for an HCP. The territory still has budget and Evan has inventory, but Cumulus capped Immunexis at two units per visit, so the account limit is the problem. When Evan submits, Sample Management blocks the drop and flags the limit before anything is recorded.
Because the submission is blocked, nothing moves. Evan's inventory, the provider's remaining allowance, and the record chain all stay as they were. The representative sees the error in the workflow, before it becomes a compliance problem.
Block a Territory Allocation Violation
Sample limits protect account compliance; territory allocations protect the regional distribution budget, and the two are checked independently, so a drop can satisfy the account rule and still fail the territory rule.
Near the end of the period, San Francisco North has just one Immunexis unit left in its allocation. Evan visits an HCP who can still receive two units under the Provider Sample Limit, and he has the inventory to make the drop. The account and inventory checks pass, but the territory check fails: A two-unit drop would push the allocation below zero.
Again the block protects the plan. Inventory, the HCP allowance, and the territory balance are all untouched. The provider could receive the sample; the territory simply can't support the drop right now.
Trace the Enforcement Chain
Every submission resolves to one of two outcomes for the record chain. A valid drop writes through all of it. The Product Item and Product Batch Item quantities fall, the Provider Sample Limit logs the receipt, and the Territory Product Quantity Allocation debits its balance. A blocked drop writes none of it; submission stops before any record changes. That clean split is what keeps the data audit-ready. Approved movement is always recorded, and invalid movement never reaches inventory, limits, or allocations.
When that behavior breaks down—a rule that should block lets a drop through, or one that should pass blocks it—trace the same chain backward, from the visit to setup to troubleshoot.
- For account limits, confirm the sample limit template is active, assigned to the right product, and initialized for the target accounts, and that Validate Sample Limits is on in Visit Administration with the SampleLimitTransactionHandler trigger handler active.
- For territory allocations, confirm the Territory Product Quantity Allocation has the correct product, territory, time period, allocation type, remaining quantity, and per-visit cap, and that Validate Territory Quantity Allocation is on in Visit Administration.
Runtime enforcement depends on the whole chain. A missing product assignment, an inactive handler, an uninitialized limit, or a disabled validation setting can leave a rule appearing correctly configured while the visit flow quietly fails to enforce it.
What’s Next?
In this unit, you explored how configured inventory and compliance records do their job during field sample drops. A valid disbursement updates inventory, provider allowance, territory allocation, and transaction history; a blocked one stops before any of that changes. Account limits and territory allocations enforce different controls, and either can stop a submission.
The next unit widens the lens from the single visit to ongoing inventory stewardship. You'll work in the Sample Inventory Management dashboard, reviewing operations, performing counts, reconciling discrepancies, and seeing how the timeline and assessment records keep the full sampling lifecycle audit-ready.