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NewsMarch 13th, 2009 March 2009 CareNET Newsletter
CareNET Board Agrees To Proceed With Plans To Adopt Global Standards Membership Renewal Reminder FDA Gathers Input On Unique Device Identification Join The Consignment Inventory Attribute Task Group Nurses Waste 'An Hour A Shift' Finding Equipment Medical Mart Supplies: A Pioneer In Advancing e-Commerce in Healthcare New Healthcare Education Available Soon! Upcoming healthcare events How You Will Benefit From CareNET In 2009New mandate expands our value to your organization As reflected by our newsletter’s new look, CareNET has amalgamated with GS1 Canada to deliver a new, expanded mandate that will enhance patient safety and efficiency in the Canadian healthcare supply chain. CareNET will continue to advance beyond offering electronic data interchange (EDI) services by building healthcare communities of interest, developing healthcare-specific standards that enhance safety and interoperability, educating industry on how to implement these standards and providing new services that improve members’ supply chain efficiency. As a member, you will continue to access the CareNET benefits that you currently enjoy in addition to the value GS1 Canada membership provides, including:
CareNET’s strategic priorities for 2009:
By delivering these new initiatives, CareNET and GS1 Canada will help maximize the value of your membership in 2009. For more information, contact Herb Martin at carenet@gs1ca.org. Government And Industry Align With National Standards ProjectSupport for healthcare safety and interoperability continues to grow The Government of Nova Scotia, telecommunications company TELUS Corporation, software provider Ormed Information Systems and healthcare supplier Acart Equipment Ltd. are the latest organizations to support the Canadian Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Project (Supply Chain Standards Project). This 15-month initiative is dedicated to the national adoption of consistent global supply chain standards. “The Supply Chain Standards Project aligns with the province’s fiscal responsibilities to ensure we have a sustainable health system, the implementation of provincial administrative information systems for finance, human resources and material management, and our commitment though our health transform strategy to deliver quality and safe patient care," stated Sandra Cascadden, Director, Health Transition Office, Nova Scotia Department of Health. The Healthcare Technical Standards Work Group is working to ensure Canada’s needs are represented in the standards development process. The Supply Chain Standards Project will also produce the implementation guidelines and tools that will drive consistency and interoperability within the healthcare industry. The timing of these deliverables could not come at a better time, as healthcare trading partners are focusing on efficiencies and safety, combined with the administration and supply chain consolidation that is taking place in many provinces across the country. To date, the Supply Chain Standards Project supporters from the public and private sector include:
Additional Supply Chain Standards Project supporters from the public and private sector are expected to announce their participation in the first two quarters of 2009. Government supporters recognize that the Supply Chain Standards Project aligns with their own objectives. In Ontario, Dan Wright, ADM, BPS Supply Chair Secretariat, Ministry of Finance acknowledged that “the project will meaningfully contribute to the development and adoption of global e-supply chain standards by healthcare providers across Canada. This in turn will yield supply chain efficiencies and has the potential to further improve patient safety.” Similarly, Jeannie Wexler, Executive Lead and David Loukras, Supply Chain Lead, both of BC Health Authorities' Shared Services, cited British Columbia’s “significant structural, operational and governance transition to a province-wide shared services organization” and linked the provincial efforts with those of the Supply Chain Standards Project, saying “we look forward to playing an early role in developing and implementing the new standards.” The Supply Chain Standards Project represents the Canadian healthcare sector’s interest in using a consistent set of supply chain standards that will reduce medical errors, improve quality of work life and decrease costs. National adoption of the new standards created by this initiative will also enable electronic procurement, trading partner and health system interoperability, as well as traceability across the healthcare supply chain. To contribute to the Supply Chain Standards Project, visit our support webpage or contact Alicia Duval, Senior Vice President, Healthcare at alicia.duval@gs1ca.org. For more information, visit the Canadian Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Project webpage. CareNET Board Agrees To Proceed With Plans To Adopt Global StandardsSupports unique product and location identification in healthcare The CareNET Healthcare Sector Board recently gave their approval for the Healthcare Technical Standards Work Group to continue with their plans for the industry’s adoption of unique identification standards for products and locations in healthcare. The board made its decision based on an industry position paper outlining the future direction for standardized product and location identification prepared by the Healthcare Technical Standards Work Group. The work group recommended the future use of two global standards:
The board agreed with the inclusion of GTINs and GLNs in Canadian healthcare EDI transaction set standards and implementation guidelines. “This was our first experience with bringing a recommendation to the CareNET board and it was very well received," stated Eric Blanchette-Ouellet of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec and co-chair of the Healthcare Technical Standards Work Group. The other co-chair, Jabir Rustom of Johnson & Johnson, agreed, saying, “We very much appreciate the board’s strong support as we move forward with changes to our e-commerce standards.” The Healthcare Technical Standards Work Group was formed to enhance and develop additional healthcare standards. Members apply their healthcare operations and technical electronic commerce expertise to develop and maintain healthcare-specific standards. Members include more than 35 individuals representing healthcare providers, suppliers, group purchasing organizations (GPOs), network gateways and solution providers. To join the Healthcare Technical Standards Work Group, complete the online application. For more information, contact Rita Laur, Director, Standards, GS1 Canada at rita.laur@gs1ca.org. Membership Renewal ReminderImportant information for outstanding payments If your organization has not yet submitted its 2009 CareNET membership renewal payment (which includes automatic GS1 Canada membership), please:
For more information, contact Maureen Goodman, Director, Membership Services, GS1 Canada at maureen.goodman@gs1ca.org. FDA Gathers Input On Unique Device IdentificationProduct identification decision will impact Canadian healthcare sector In a move that will influence Canadian healthcare, the U.S. Food and Drug Agency (FDA) recently held a public workshop to gather healthcare industry input for the development of a Unique Device Identification (UDI) system for medical devices. This event represented a pivotal step towards regulating the use of automatic identification – including bar codes – on medical devices in the U.S., supporting the centralization of attributes in a product data repository and facilitating product recalls. The FDA’s initiative is important to Canadian healthcare, as a significant amount of medical/surgical devices are imported to Canada from the U.S. Health Canada is also engaged in a similar review through active participation and leadership of the Global Harmonization Task Force (GHTF), an international group that aims to achieve greater uniformity between national medical device regulatory systems. UDI is being reviewed on a global basis and GHTF chairmanship presently resides with Canada. A GS1 global committee has submitted recommendations to the GHTF and we will keep members apprised of any developments. Learn more about the FDA’s UDI initiative. Join The Consignment Inventory Attribute Task GroupHelp develop product attributes for implantable devices and tissues To minimize the supply chain pain points associated with consignment inventory, over a dozen representatives from healthcare facilities and manufacturers are participating in the Consignment Inventory Attribute Task Group. Members will help define industry-accepted product attributes for operating room implantable devices. This accomplishment will go a long way in supporting efficient consignment inventory management. Today, healthcare trading partners exchange the same product but everyone defines the same product in a different way in their respective systems. This inconsistency is the heart of the pain point associated with the management and traceability of consignment inventory. The task group will build upon initial research and industry input gained from the Consignment Inventory Consensus Meeting held in conjunction with OHA HealthAchieve 2008 in November 2008 and presented by St. Michael’s Hospital, CareNET and GS1 Canada, and supported by the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA). The outcome of the task group’s efforts will result in all healthcare trading partners with consignment agreements to exchange consistent product attributes and data fields. To contribute your business and technical healthcare operations expertise to the development of product attributes for consignment inventory for implantable devices and tissues, join the Consignment Inventory Attribute Task Group. For more information, contact Rob Bell, Director, Healthcare at rob.bell@gs1ca.org. Nurses Waste 'An Hour A Shift' Finding EquipmentGS1 bar codes can help identify and locate items A recent survey by Nursing Times has found that more than one-third of nurses spend at least an hour finding items of equipment during an average hospital shift – a problem that GS1 global standards, including bar codes, can help solve. As a result of CareNET’s amalgamation with GS1 Canada, members now have access to these GS1 standards. On average, nurses spend an additional hour helping other wards locate items, according to the online survey of around 1,000 nurses carried out jointly with GS1 UK, a not-for-profit body that helped introduce bar coding technology into the National Health Service (NHS). The findings suggested that nurses could spend the equivalent of 40 hours per month searching for equipment. In 16% of cases, respondents said that they had given up such a search during the past six months after failing to find a piece of equipment. In the majority of situations, nurses were looking for devices or consumables. The items most often sought were pumps, drip stands, thermometers, keys and mattresses. In 2007, the UK Department of Health issued policy to trusts on introducing bar code technology. Initial work focused on adding bar codes to patient wristbands, medicines and surgical instrument sets to reduce errors and improve patient safety. According to GS1, bar codes could also be routinely attached to bundles of dressings, which would allow a nurse to use a ward computer to quickly locate where the items are stored and in what quantity. Nine out of ten respondents said they would be prepared to use a ward-based computer to locate items and scan bar coded items in and out of the ward. Read the full article “Nurses waste ‘an hour a shift’ finding equipment”. View results from the Nursing Times survey. Medical Mart Supplies: A Pioneer In Advancing e-Commerce in HealthcareA profile of one of CareNET's founding members In 1990, when CareNET was established as an association, its members consisted of 10 healthcare suppliers organizations that started their electronic data interchange (EDI) trading in the supplier category. One of those suppliers was Medical Mart Supplies (Medical Mart). Since then, Medical Mart has continually been at the cutting edge of electronic commerce in Canadian healthcare and its leadership has helped the company achieve many accomplishments. For the past 13 years, Medical Mart has participated on the CareNET board of directors and Rob West, Executive Vice President, has served on the CareNET executive committee for the past eight years. Rob West has clearly been a leader when it comes to the advancement of e-commerce in healthcare. He states, “Medical Mart has always focused on leading-edge technology with a vision of cost reductions for all supply chain stakeholders, including both the providers (hospitals) and the suppliers/distributors. We strongly believe that, by endorsing e-commerce in conjunction with global standards, the goal of a more efficient supply chain will be attained, for the betterment of patient safety.” Fran Goddu, IT Director, described the level of integration that Medical Mart has achieved to date. “First and foremost, we are open to all initiatives that promote e-commerce. We have implemented connections to TELUS, GHX and ORMED X, depending on the specific requirements of our customer base. Our systems are designed for constant, rapid communication between our customers and ourselves.” In addition to implementing many of the EDI transaction sets - purchase order (PO), PO acknowledgement, price & sales catalog, invoice, functional acknowledgement, payment order/remittance advice, application advice, Medical Mart is planning to implement the product transfer and resale report, motor carrier bill of lading, motor carrier pick-up manifest and motor carrier freight details and invoice. Medical Mart has also moved ahead with a program to extend several of these transactions beyond its customer base to its suppliers. “We now generate EDI purchase orders to many of our suppliers and receive EDI acknowledgements and invoices in return,” stated Andrew Bugeja, System Analyst/Developer. “We contacted all of our major suppliers to request that they implement e-commerce as a basic way of doing business. In addition, we continue to follow up with suppliers who do not yet have EDI capabilities, with the intent to put in place effective e-commerce programs.” “There have been strategic advancements in just the past year,” said Rob West. “We have seen the amalgamation of CareNET with GS1 Canada. This development positions the healthcare industry for the introduction of global standards that can be implemented by all stakeholders. Global standards will allow all participants to receive the benefit of future supply chain efficiencies. The best is yet to come.” Learn more about Medical Mart. New Healthcare Education Available Soon!Online modules will help you apply supply chain standards for healthcare In 2009, CareNET and GS1 Canada will launch new healthcare-specific supply chain standards education designed to enhance the organizational productivity of healthcare providers and suppliers alike. The three new online modules will be available at no charge 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They will cover such topics as Integrating Global Standards in Healthcare, Electronic Product Code™/Radio Frequency Identification (EPC/RFID) in Healthcare and Implementing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The Integrating Global Standards in Healthcare module will help you understand how to apply a set of common standards to consistently identify products, locations, assets and equipment throughout the healthcare supply chain. The EPC/RFID in Healthcare module will demonstrate how EPC/RFID technology has improved healthcare efficiency and enhanced patient safety by addressing such healthcare challenges as preventable medical errors, inventory control and asset tracking. The Implementing EDI module will discuss healthcare-specific standards that will help your organization efficiently transfer electronic business documents, including purchase orders, invoices and advance ship notices. CareNET will send you additional information about these healthcare education modules soon. In the meantime, if you have any questions, contact Rob Bell, Director, Healthcare at rob.bell@gs1ca.org. Upcoming healthcare eventsNetwork with healthcare stakeholders at these events GS1 Healthcare ConferencePresented by GS1 March 17-19, 2009, Orthopädisches Spital Speising, Vienna, Austria Attend the 13th global GS1 Healthcare Conference, held for the first time in a hospital. Network with experts and your peers from all over the world. Learn more about global standards for automatic identification, traceability and data synchronization in healthcare. Stay informed about industry and regulatory developments impacting the healthcare supply chain from manufacturer to patient. Raise your requirements for global standards in the work team sessions. Learn more. Launch meeting: CareNET Healthcare Standards Council HSCN National Healthcare Supply Chain Conference Presented by the Healthcare Supply Chain Network (HSCN) April 26-28, 2009, Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto Visit CareNET's booth at this second annual two-day forum, which offers healthcare decision-makers the opportunity to discuss and debate some of the challenges and leading practices in supply chain management. The conference will provide attendees with usable knowledge on leading-edge supply chain solutions and the opportunity to network with other industry professionals. Learn more. |
Recent News Associations Align to Advance Patient Safety and Healthcare Supply Chain Efficiencies CareNET and GS1 Canada Enter into Strategic Alliance Newsletters |
