Other industries have optimized their supply chains by adopting global standards to identify products, the organizations that sell and buy them, and the locations to which they are delivered. Over the past 30 years, there have been attempts, largely unsuccessful, to broadly adopt and use these kinds of standards in healthcare. Now, there are signs that that is beginning to change.

The FDA’s Unique Device Identifier rule
One driver is the pending Unique Device Identification (UDI) rule from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It will require medical device manufacturers to uniquely identify their products with one of two existing standards: either GS1’s Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) or Health Industry Business Communications Council’s Labeler Identification Code. When this rule takes effect, many believe it will provide the much-needed impetus to move healthcare forward on standards adoption, at least for product identification.

The FDA only has jurisdiction over manufacturers, but there is growing recognition among healthcare delivery organizations that use of a single product identifier for each of the products they use can also deliver benefits. In addition to greater supply chain efficiencies, standards can provide better visibility into the products used in patient care, which can improve comparative effectiveness research and recall management, among other things.

Other industry initiatives
Meanwhile, in the United States, a group of leading integrated delivery organizations, the major group purchasing organizations (GPOs), and several trade associations have called on both providers and suppliers to begin using the GTIN, as well as GS1’s standard for organization and location identification, the Global Location Number or GLN, in transactions. The GLN, when used in combination with a GTIN, can help ensure that products are delivered to the right place at the right price.

In the case of GTINs, manufacturers have to move first, by assigning the standard to their products, and then communicate that information to their customers. Healthcare delivery organizations, on the other hand, have to assign GLNs to locations within their facilities and communicate that information to their vendors.

GHX is in a position to help
Because GHX works with such a large percentage of the healthcare industry, it can assist with this process. Through the GHX Industry Standards Users group, GHX and its members are sharing best practices in standards adoption and use, including how to synchronize data between trading partners and utilize standards in transactions, even when their systems are not yet capable of holding the standards. By working together, these organizations can accelerate the value standards have to offer

Learn more on our Global Standards pages.