WESTMINSTER, Colo., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) is offering a “Content Only” membership that enables all healthcare suppliers, regardless of whether or not they utilize GHX’s trading exchange for eCommerce, to publish and maintain their product data in GHX’s AllSource(TM) product content repository. By enabling more suppliers to participate in AllSource, GHX can expand the breadth of products in the repository, which, in turn, makes it easier for hospitals and other healthcare organizations to improve the accuracy of their internal product databases, known as item masters.
The only source of healthcare product data maintained and verified by suppliers, the AllSource repository already contains information on more than 1.4 million items, representing more than 80 percent of the medical and surgical products that can be currently purchased by hospitals in North America. With more suppliers able to participate in AllSource, the number of products represented in the repository will increase.
For healthcare providers, the AllSource repository serves as a single, reliable source they can use to synchronize their product data to that of suppliers. By utilizing the most accurate and up-to-date information for procurement, hospitals can reduce purchase order errors that result in costly discrepancies for both buyers and sellers. “It’s not enough to cleanse your product data once and think you’ve got it right,” says Cynthia Shumway, Materials Management Systems Manager for Intermountain Health Care. “Having one place we can rely upon to always have the most accurate product data straight from the source provides a long term solution to a universal problem for healthcare.”
Suppliers, meanwhile, now have one place where they can publish and maintain their data for access by all of their customers. “AllSource simplifies the catalog maintenance process for suppliers, which can otherwise be extremely complicated and time-consuming,” says Todd Oldroyd, Vice President, National Accounts, for Merit Medical Systems, which is participating in the Content Only membership.
Jon Ocel, Sr. Manager, Global Business Solutions for Medtronic, Inc. adds “Now that all suppliers, not just those trading on GHX, can utilize AllSource, healthcare is moving closer to having an industry standard tool that everyone can use to achieve data synchronization and, most importantly, fewer supply chain errors.”
Suppliers participating in the Content Only membership are afforded the same data privacy protection granted to all GHX suppliers. They maintain the rights to all data they publish in AllSource, and it cannot be shared with any other party without their permission. The only requirement for suppliers to participate in the Content Only membership is that they publish and maintain their data in AllSource according to GHX’s standard specifications.
Providers also have the ability to utilize the AllSource product repository for data cleansing and correction, regardless of their participation in the trading exchange. Those providers that transact business via GHX have their data synchronized with the AllSource repository prior to going live with GHX and as new electronic trading partners are added. These providers also have their data accuracy maintained via GHX Content Intelligence(TM), which identifies and corrects product data errors in purchase orders during the transactional process and notifies providers of updates that need to be made to their item masters. Non-transacting providers can utilize GHX’s Content Center for product data cleansing and correction, as well as other advanced content services, including product classification and normalization to make it easier to identify the right product to purchase.
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,cell, +1-303-564-2147, kconway@ghx.com
Web site: http://www.ghx.com/