News

October 9th, 2007

CareNET and GS1 Canada Enter into Strategic Alliance

Seated (left to right) Patrick Smith, Art Smith
Standing (left to right) Herb Martin, Jacques Chaput, Alicia Duval

The CareNET board is pleased to inform you that an agreement has been reached with GS1 Canada to enter into a strategic alliance partnership to enhance and increase the adoption of standardized supply chain and e-commerce practices within the Canadian healthcare community.

GS1 Canada is a member organization of GS1, the largest e-commerce standards organization in the world dedicated to the design and implementation of global standards and solutions in order to improve supply chain management and electronic commerce. GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit organization that has operations in 108 countries. Its supply chain standards are non-proprietary and used globally across all industries; every day, over five billion transactions are completed using GS1 standards, solutions and services.

This strategic alliance captures the synergies of CareNET's healthcare industry knowledge, with its membership of 437 providers and 97 suppliers, and GS1 Canada's expertise in supply chain and collaborative commerce standards development, maintenance and implementation. The alliance will enable CareNET to accelerate its vision of promoting, educating, facilitating and supporting the use of electronic commerce. It will also support GS1 Canada's strategic efforts to improve the safety and efficiency of the Canadian healthcare system through the adoption of and adherence to globally recognized supply chain standards, and the expanded use of electronic commerce.

Although CareNET will remain a separate association with its own Board of Directors, GS1 Canada will manage the administration of the CareNET association, including the employment of the CareNET Manager, Herb Martin. This arrangement will free-up time, so Herb can place priority focus on membership recruitment and enhancing the service offerings from the solution provider community.

Several comments from the CareNET Executive Committee are noteworthy:

Patrick Smith (CareNET co-chair) stated "This partnership allows CareNET to continue its focus on maintaining a level playing field for both large and small hospitals and suppliers. It will enable hospitals to accelerate their efforts to increase patient safety."

Jacques Chaput (CareNET Secretary) emphasized that "GS1 Canada brings a distinct component to the relationship - the ability to ensure that future eCommerce standards are compliant with global standards, thereby paving the way for future cost reductions in the healthcare supply chain."

As a result of this strategic alliance, CareNET Provider members will automatically become members of GS1 Canada. Many CareNET supplier members already enjoy the benefits of membership in GS1 Canada. We strongly encourage any supplier non-members to consider joining, especially during this important time when healthcare standards development activity is very strong within Canada and around the globe. Membership in GS1 Canada will provide you with the opportunity to actively participate in the global standards development process, and to gain access to the various experts and resources made available to the GS1 Membership. We encourage you to visit the GS1 Canada website at www.gs1ca.org, as well as the global healthcare initiative at www.gs1.org/healthcare

For more information, please feel free to contact Herb Martin (416) 651-4900, or Alicia Duval, Vice President, Healthcare, GS1 Canada (416) 510-8039 Ext. 2309.

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