U.S. Healthcare Industry Aligns To Improve Patient Safety And Supply Chain Efficiency
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GS1 Healthcare US welcomes the recent announcement of the Coalition for Healthcare eStandards (CHeS) and the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association's (HIGPA) agreement to work together to reduce healthcare costs and improve healthcare supply chain efficiency. CHeS, the leading industry-wide standards advocacy organization, will now serve as a committee under HIGPA, the preeminent organization that advocates on behalf of healthcare group purchasing organizations.
This news follows the recent announcement from the Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Coalition (HSCSC) to merge their working groups into GS1 Healthcare US to eliminate any redundancy in efforts.
This consolidation and alignment of associations and advocacy groups, within the U.S healthcare industry, not only underscores the recent acceleration in the adoption of GS1 standards such as the Global Location Number (GLN), Global Trade Item Number® (GTIN®) and the Global Data Synchronization Network® (GDSN®) that help in achieving a safer and more efficient supply chain, but also overcomes the industry's fragmentation of efforts and resources towards standardization.
"The formation of GS1 Healthcare US earlier this year has provided a much needed forum for the industry to combine its efforts. The industry's recent alignment, to adopt GS1 standards, will now give us the opportunity to work together to significantly improve patient safety, increase supply chain efficiency, and reduce the overall cost of healthcare," said Dennis Harrison, president of GS1 Healthcare US. "Everybody wins when we all work together."
The industry's alignment also ensures that the needs of each supply chain partner in U.S. healthcare are met for wide-scale adoption and successful implementation.
GS1 Healthcare US would like to thank CHeS for its commitment to the healthcare supply chain standards movement. Since its founding in 2000, CHeS has been on the forefront in bringing the industry together, researching global best practices, and as a result endorsed many GS1 standards being incorporated now in the healthcare supply chain, including the GLN, GTIN, and the GDSN. GS1 Healthcare US looks forward to continuing our work together with CHeS and HIGPA to drive this critical initiative.
About GS1 Healthcare US™
GS1 Healthcare US is an industry group that focuses on driving the adoption and implementation of GS1 standards in the healthcare industry to improve patient safety and supply chain efficiency. The Group brings together members from all segments of the healthcare industry including distributors, group purchasing organizations (GPOs), healthcare providers, industry associations, manufacturers, pharmacies, and solution providers to address the issues that most impact healthcare in the United States. GS1 Healthcare US is one of twelve local GS1 user groups around the world that supports the adoption and implementation of global standards developed by GS1. For more information, visit www.gs1us.org/healthcare.
About GS1 US™
GS1 US, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the adoption and implementation of standards-based, global supply chain solutions. GS1 US operates subsidiaries EPCglobal North America™, RosettaNet, and 1SYNC™. GS1 US manages the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code® (UNSPSC®) for the UN Development Programme. GS1 US-based solutions, including business processes, XML standards, EDI transaction sets and the bar code identification standards of the GS1 System are currently used by more than one million companies worldwide. For more information, visit www.gs1us.org
Copyright 2008 Business Wire All Rights Reserved