WESTMINSTER, Colo., May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Providers, suppliers, and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) participating in Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) have launched a collaborative initiative to expand the use of Universal Product Numbers (UPNs) in the healthcare supply chain. The initiative is designed to help all members of the healthcare supply chain increase their use of UPNs, whether they are just getting started or already capable of transacting business electronically with UPNs, and will include several pilot efforts involving both buyers and sellers. UPNs, which uniquely distinguish products at a specific unit of measure, are considered fundamental to the effective use of barcoding and other electronic product identification technology designed to improve patient safety, inventory management, and supply chain efficiencies.
“More than 80 representatives of buyers, sellers, and GPOs attending this year’s GHX Content Summit decided to focus on making measurable progress with UPNs,” says Corwin Hee, Director, Internet Marketing, Tyco Healthcare. “Use of a common language to identify products across the supply chain is the key to achieving buyer-seller data synchronization and a more efficient supply chain and lays the groundwork for use of other industry standards.” Hee co- chairs the GHX UPN Task Force, along with Bill Francis, Vice President, Contract Administration, for HCA. Linda Nicoletti, Project Manager for 3M Health Care, is assisting with efforts to measure the value of UPNs to both buyers and sellers, using the Six Sigma process employed by 3M, General Electric, and many other leading healthcare organizations.
More than half of the organizations represented at the GHX Content Summit agreed to adopt, implement, and/or leverage UPNs in some capacity, depending on technology and business practices; a smaller, core group will participate in the pilots. GHX trading partners involved in the UPN initiative include:
SUPPLIERS 3M ALARIS Medical Systems, Inc. Arizant Healthcare Inc. Boston Scientific Corp. Guidant Corp. Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Systems Inc. Kimberly-Clark Health Care Medtronic, Inc. Olympus America Inc. Tyco Healthcare Zimmer DISTRIBUTORS Cardinal Health PROVIDERS Aurora Health Care, Inc. BJC HealthCare Centura Health Fairview Health Services HCA Intermountain Healthcare Resurrection Healthcare Terrebonne General Medical Center GROUP PURCHASING ORGANIZATIONS Amerinet HealthTrust Purchasing Group Premier Inc.
Other industries, such as grocery, books, and pharmaceuticals, have already seen dramatic benefits through the use of standard product identifiers, initially through reduced supply chain costs, increased process efficiencies, and improved buyer-seller collaboration. These industries found that while it takes time to achieve widespread adoption, technology can accelerate the process. “Healthcare has recognized the value of UPNs for many years. But our industry is finally well-positioned to make real progress because we now have participants across the entire supply chain all using the same electronic trading exchange, GHX, and its industry standard content repository, AllSource, as the industry source for accurate product data,” says Francis.
The AllSource repository supports both of the most widely accepted formats for UPNs, those managed by either the Health Industry Business Communication Council (HIBCC) or the Uniform Code Council (UCC). The UPN Task Force encourages healthcare suppliers to register their products using either of these formats. “It doesn’t matter which format a supplier chooses as long as they begin publishing UPNs for their products in AllSource,” says GHX Content Services Director MJ Wylie. “Once those UPNs are published, healthcare providers and group purchasing organizations can start synchronizing their internal data to UPNs and eventually transact business with UPNs via GHX.” Approximately 30 percent of the suppliers that have published data in AllSource are using UPNs. Boston Scientific Corp., Guidant Corp. and BJC HealthCare are among the GHX trading partners already successfully transacting business with UPNs.
In order to help all organizations expand their use of UPNs, regardless of their current capabilities, the GHX UPN Task Force has created a progressive roadmap that outlines the various steps involved in adopting and utilizing UPNs to their full advantage. The roadmap is broken into two sections: the first for those interested in beginning to use UPNs for informational purposes and the second for those ready to begin transacting business and tracking products across the supply chain using UPNs.
In the informational stage, suppliers make the business decision to assign UPNs to their products, beginning with the saleable unit of measure, select a format (either HIBCC or UCC) for each product, register UPNs for those products, and then publish those UPNs in the AllSource content repository. Providers, meanwhile, take steps to store UPNs within their enterprise resource planning (ERP) or materials management information systems (MMIS) and map them to the corresponding product numbers currently stored in their item masters. Those trading partners interested in moving to the next level can work with GHX to begin transacting with UPNs. At later stages, buyers and sellers can utilize barcode scanners or other technology, such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), to track products and monitor usage. The end result is improved product visibility from the point of manufacturer through to the point of use, which improves supply chain accuracy and patient safety.
Healthcare providers, suppliers, and group purchasing organizations interested in participating in the GHX UPN Initiative or learning more about the value of UPNs in healthcare, should contact MJ Wylie at mjwylie@ghx.com.
About Global Healthcare Exchange
Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) provides an open and neutral electronic trading exchange, along with complementary products and services, through which buyers and sellers can collaborate to improve efficiencies in the healthcare supply chain. GHX’s catalog and content services improve the accuracy of purchasing transactions, reducing many of the most common and costly problems in healthcare procurement, while the privately held company’s revenue neutral business model is designed to lower costs for all involved. GHX’s owners, strategic partners, and trading exchange participants are representative of the entire healthcare supply chain, including manufacturer and distributors; integrated delivery networks (IDNs), hospitals and ancillary healthcare facilities; group purchasing organizations and their proprietary healthcare trading exchanges; and supply chain technology companies. Equity owners of GHX include Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.; GE Medical Systems; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; Medtronic USA, Inc.; Abbott Exchange, Inc.; Siemens; Becton, Dickinson & Co.; Boston Scientific Corp.; Tyco Healthcare Group, LP; Guidant Corp.; C.R. Bard, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corp.; Cardinal Health, Inc.; Fisher Scientific International, Inc.; McKesson Corp.; B Braun Medical Inc.; Premier, Inc. and HCA. For more information visit http://www.ghx.com/.
Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC
CONTACT: Karen Conway of Global Healthcare Exchange, +1-719-488-0359 or+1-303-564-2147, kconway@ghx.com
Web site: http://www.ghx.com/
