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NewsMarch 2nd, 2010 March 2010 Carenet Newsletter
Saskatchewan now represented on GS1 Canada’s Carenet Healthcare Sector Board Consensus Reached to Adopt GS1 Bar Code Standards for Vaccine Products in Canada eCommerce Expands in Northwestern Ontario Member Profile – HealthPRO Procurement Services Global Healthcare Initiatives Move Forward in 2009 Carenet Community Groups Update Pan-Canadian Bar Coding Initiative to Lead to Improved Medication Safety Across CanadaNational consensus for drug products labeling announced On February 3, 2010, GS1 Canada, in collaboration with pharmacy supply chain stakeholders, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP Canada) and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), held a press conference in Toronto to announce the launch of a national project to promote automated drug identification in Canada using global GS1 bar coding standards. As a result of the collaboration between these associations and other healthcare industry stakeholders, a national consensus has been reached on using GS1 bar codes as the standard format for labeling medication packaging in Canada. "Relying only on human vigilance to ensure medication safety is not enough; better use of available technology will be important in the 21st century," said David U, President and CEO, ISMP Canada. "With over 30,000 commercial drug products in the marketplace, there is a significant and overdue need for a coordinated approach to bar coding pharmaceuticals in order to enable automated identification throughout the Canadian healthcare system." Currently, pharmaceutical companies affix GS1 bar codes on the exterior packaging of their products. This initiative will ultimately mean that a bar code affixed to a particular drug would include the drug’s identification number or Global Item Identification Number (GTIN), identifying the product and providing specific information about the product – such as its brand name and packaging size. The national bar coding project is a significant step towards a safer healthcare system – helping reduce preventable medication errors affecting patients in both institutional and community settings. View a clip of this press conference. Saskatchewan now represented on GS1 Canada’s Carenet Healthcare Sector Board In November 2009, the GS1 Canada Carenet Healthcare Sector Board gained representation from the Province of Saskatchewan, with the appointment Dale Markewich, Vice President, Corporate Services, Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO). "Through our participation on the [Carenet] Healthcare Sector Board at GS1 Canada, we look forward to providing input to industry for consensus and implementation of global standards to enable consistent, effective communication of healthcare product information," stated Mr. Markewich. "We view this as an opportunity to maximize the benefit of our materials management services. GS1 standards are vital to support our goals of increasing patient safety, improving business processes, and reducing costs." The addition of a representative from the Province of Saskatchewan will further the Carenet Healthcare Sector Board’s mandate to improve healthcare across Canada through the use of global GS1 standards – enabling significant advancements in patient safety, as well as cost and time savings. The Board continues to drive the strategic direction and associated projects that support the adoption of a common system of supply chain standards in healthcare, enabling:
About SAHO Consensus Reached to Adopt GS1 Bar Code Standards for Vaccine Products in CanadaThe collaboration between the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), vaccine manufacturers, stakeholders and GS1 Canada on the Automated Identification of Vaccine Products (AIVP) initiative has resulted in a collective endorsement of a Consensus Statement on the use of GS1 bar codes as the national standard for vaccine identification in Canada. "A national protocol for identifying vaccines using globally standard bar codes will without question improve efficiencies and reduce errors throughout the Canadian healthcare system," said Dr. Robert Van Exan, Director, Immunization Policy, Sanofi Pasteur Limited. "These standards will increase confidence in the healthcare system and most importantly, better serve patients."The consensus is based on a critical Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) commissioned by the AIVP Advisory Task Group. Conducted by an independent third party, the CBA identified significant benefits arising from the adoption and implementation of GS1 bar codes on vaccines licensed for use in Canada, including cost-savings of more than $900-million dollars over a 20-year period. The CBA also found that the implementation of GS1 bar codes on vaccine products would result in:
With consensus reached on the standard for vaccine identification, the AIVP group can now move forward with the development of the Vaccine Identification Database System (VIDS). The VIDS will be a national, online database containing comprehensive information on all vaccines licensed for use in Canada, which will be used by healthcare professionals to manage public immunization and tracking of vaccines. A portion of the information for this system is already available from manufacturers through GS1 Canada’s ECCnet Registry; GS1 Canada plans to provide an integrated data feed from ECCnet Registry to VIDS. eCommerce Expands in Northwestern OntarioThe Carenet strategy’s eCommerce engagement in Northwestern Ontario has for many years consisted of sites in North Bay, Timmins, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay – the most westerly site in the province. However, in 2009, this situation changed dramatically with the addition of the following organizations to GS1 Canada’s Carenet strategy:
"Although we started slowly, it soon became clear that sending our purchase orders electronically was a definite benefit," commented Donna German, IT Support Analyst of the Lake of the Woods District Hospital about the benefits of adopting eCommerce. "After starting up with a few of our major suppliers, we have now expanded our electronic trading to 25 suppliers, and we expect to add more in the coming months". Allan Hensel, Manager, Material Management at St. Joseph’s Care Group, echoed the benefits of implementing an eCommerce program, stating that they are working towards including additional trading partners in their eCommerce activities. "From our start-up in December, we are now sending electronic purchase orders to six suppliers and are actively working on many more to start-up in early 2010," explained Mr. Hensel. Maintaining established eCommerce activities was another important aspect of the Carenet strategy in 2009. For example, part of this strategy involved assisting Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, a member since 1994, maintain its e-ordering processes as they migrated to a new materials management system in Fall 2009. David Krasnichuk, a purchasing agent at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre voiced concerns about the organization’s ability to maintain its e-ordering processes during the migration. "Having used eCommerce for so many years, we have achieved efficiencies that we simply could not be without as we changed our materials management system in 2009," he explained. Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is set to expand their eCommerce processes through the efficiencies provided by their new software system – and with the expansion of Carenet’s eCommerce strategy, more organizations stemming from Northwestern Ontario – as well as across Canada – are sure to follow suit. Member Profile – HealthPRO Procurement ServicesCanada’s healthcare Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) have a long standing commitment to the success of Carenet’s Canadian Healthcare Standards Project. Of particular relevance to Canada’s GPOs is the adoption of the GS1 System of global standards for medical, surgical and pharmaceutical supplies, and the development of technical bar coding standards."We work with suppliers and providers and keenly understand the benefits of global standardized supply chain and eCommerce practices," explains Cynthia Valaitis, VP Business Development, HealthPRO Procurement Services (HealthPRO), a sponsor and participant in the Canadian Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Project ", HealthPRO is in an excellent position to advocate for and support those standards and practices." Last Spring, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) jointly endorsed the adoption of the GS1 System of standards for automated identification of pharmaceutical products in Canada, signaling a major step forward in the Supply Chain Standards Project. Implementing global supply chain standards and practices will help reduce errors and lower production and supply chain costs, enhancing medication safety at the patient bedside and allowing more resources to be directed towards patient care. As the GS1 bar coding and e-commerce standards and practices are gradually implemented across all medical, surgical and pharmaceutical supply categories, HealthPRO is preparing to:
Global Healthcare Initiatives Move Forward in 20092009 proved to be a year of milestones for the healthcare sector. Canada and other countries worldwide have worked to advance the implementation of the global GS1 System of standards in response to the increasingly e-driven nature of the healthcare supply chain and the growing urgency of global product traceability. Read about healthcare success stories (137 kb Countries all over the world are adopting, implementing and advancing GS1 standards in their healthcare supply chains, and by doing so, are experiencing a reduction in medication errors, enhanced traceability and product authentication, and improved overall efficiencies. Read more (1,747 kb For additional information, visit www.carenet.ca or email Herb Martin, Director, Healthcare, GS1 Canada at Carenet@gs1ca.org. Welcome New MembersM2North Canada Ltd. - Established in 2001, M2North Canada Ltd. currently connects over 10,000 companies worldwide. The organization’s solution is fast, fully-scalable and cost-effective in order to connect trading partners of any size. Whether using an Electronic Resource Planning (ERP) system, an off-the-shelf accounting solution, or a purpose-built system, M2North can connect all trading partners with a single entry and exit point – thereby enabling a collaboration of marketing, management, support and technology to facilitate business growth and reduce environmental impact. Olympus Canada - Olympus Canada leverages the operational synergy of other Olympus companies in the Americas, designing programs that are tailored to the Canadian market. This allows Olympus Canada to deliver unique solutions that address Canadian-specific healthcare challenges and enhance the efficiencies of their customers’ day-to-day operations. As a member of the global Olympus family, Olympus Canada is able to offer customers access to international programs and courses, local educational support like Olympus University, and most importantly opportunities to participate in clinical applications related to endoscopy, surgery, and life science. Sorin Group - Sorin Group is a global company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The Company develops, manufactures and markets medical technologies for cardiac surgery and for the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders. The Group focuses on three major therapeutic areas that include cardiopulmonary bypass (extracorporeal circulation and autotransfusion systems), cardiac rhythm management, and heart valve repair and replacement. Every year, over one million patients are treated with devices produced by Sorin Group in more than 80 countries. Carenet Community Groups UpdateProduct Identification Task Group Healthcare Product Description Work Group Nominations for the Hospital/Provider Co-Chair position are currently being accepted. The Work Group will meet twice a month in 2010. Companies represented on this Work Group include: For more information or to join Working Group, contact Rita Laur, Director, Standards, GS1 Canada at Rita.Laur@gs1ca.org. Upcoming Healthcare Events16th Global GS1 Healthcare Conference HSCN National Healthcare Supply Chain Network Conference
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Recent News Associations Align to Advance Patient Safety and Healthcare Supply Chain Efficiencies CareNET and GS1 Canada Enter into Strategic Alliance Newsletters |
) in countries such as India, the UK, France, the US, Sweden, as well as Canada – who are all taking steps to modernize their supply chains.