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NewsMay 14th, 2009 May 2009 Carenet Newsletter
2012 Standards Compliance Deadline Announced by Major US Healthcare Organizations HSCN National Healthcare Supply Chain Conference Enabling Digital Signatures For Controlled Substances E-ordering CareNET Welcomes New Members CareNET Community Groups Update RFID Journal LIVE! Canada 2009 Features Healthcare Track Oprah Showcases Bar Coding In Healthcare Canadian Healthcare Environmental Scan Set For 2009 Ecommerce Standards Activity in La Belle Province Upcoming healthcare events Patient Safety Advocate Groups Endorse GS1 StandardsThe Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project now underway Following broad consultation, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada) and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) jointly released a statement to endorse the adoption of the GS1 global standard for automated identification (e.g., bar coding) of pharmaceutical products in Canada (The Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project). ISMP Canada and CPSI will now work with stakeholders to ensure that standards continue to evolve in Canada so that user requirements for implementing bar coding for enhanced safety of medication use within the healthcare system are fully identified and met across all healthcare sectors. “The official endorsement from ISMP Canada and CPSI significantly supports the goal of CareNET to reduce medical errors through the adoption of automation and superior supply chain practices,” said Alicia Duval, Senior Vice President, Healthcare, GS1 Canada. The Canadian Pharmaceutical Bar Coding Project is a unique opportunity for all stakeholders of the Canadian medication system to collaborate nationally and internationally, from industry to healthcare providers, on a comprehensive strategy for enhanced medication use to improve patient safety. For more information, contact Alicia Duval, Senior Vice President, Healthcare, GS1 Canada, at Alicia.Duval@gs1ca.org. Canadian Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Project Achievements ContinueAnother provincial supporter and completion of phase II deliverables
“As the largest healthcare provider in Canada, we are pleased to participate in the Canadian Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Project, as it supports provincial priorities to build a system that is sustainable and interoperable. The Project will facilitate our transition to a single, province-wide healthcare supply chain delivery system while supporting our healthcare professionals in the delivery of quality care,” said Jitendra Prasad, Senior VP, Supply Chain, Alberta Health Services. The Supply Chain Standards Project’s Phase II deliverables have also been met, including:
Since its inception in mid-2008, the Supply Chain Standards Project has garnered the support from both the public and private sectors:
The Supply Chain Standards Project is set to modernize the healthcare supply chain and support the Canadian healthcare industry’s vision of reducing supply chain and medication errors, deterring counterfeiting, enabling efficient and effective traceability, maximizing the intellectual capital of our healthcare professionals and decreasing production and supply chain costs to direct more resources toward patient care. For more information, contact Rob Bell, Director, Healthcare, GS1 Canada, at Rob.Bell@gs1ca.org. 2012 Standards Compliance Deadline Announced by Major US Healthcare OrganizationsDriving a standardized healthcare supply chain to improve patient safety and reduce costs Novation, a leading US healthcare contracting services organization, and its affiliates – VHA Inc. and University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), both national health care alliances, and Provista, LLC, a group purchasing and business solutions organization – announced their endorsement of the GS1 System of standards in March 2009. The organization expects its industry partners to have adopted GS1 standards by the end of 2012. This decision follows announcements already established by major group purchasing organizations (GPOs). The consistent application of the GS1 System of standards by leading healthcare organizations is key to driving a standardized healthcare supply chain and will no doubt impact Canada as the vast amount of healthcare product enters via the United States. Organizations worldwide are realizing numerous benefits through the implementation of global data standards by using such standards as the Global Location Number (GLN), the Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN) and the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN). By implementing GS1 standards into business processes, organizations can realize a reduction in medication errors through efficient and automatic identification, efficient and accurate traceability of products and devices throughout the supply chain, less time spent on manual processes leading to more one-on-one patient care, and increased productivity overall. For more information on endorsements of GS1 standards, contact Alicia Duval, Senior Vice President, Healthcare, GS1 Canada, at Alicia.Duval@gs1ca.org. HSCN National Healthcare Supply Chain ConferenceSpreading awareness regarding the business value of implementing standards in healthcare
The session, presented by Mike Sadiwnyk, Senior Vice President, Global Relations and Chief Standards Officer, GS1 Canada, examined how the Supply Chain Standards Project is addressing the healthcare industry’s business process pain points and highlighted the efficiencies and cost saving opportunities that can be realized through system-wide adoption of the GS1 System of standards. “Critical mass adoption of these supply chain standards is key,” said Sadiwnyk, explaining how the healthcare sector can achieve the same benefits already realized by other sectors. “And the Canadian healthcare sector is taking the first crucial steps towards this through the Canadian Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Project.” Project participants – some 58% percent of Canadian hospitals, as well as their major suppliers – are working to determine the fundamental elements required for process change, such as defining the perfect (ideal) order, receiving and payment processes, and measuring the value of change to industry, as well as to individual organizations. To illustrate the potential benefits of supply chain standardization, the session highlighted the high costs that result from data errors in the healthcare supply chain – errors that could be avoided through implementation of global standards. “Every day within the healthcare supply chain, up to 30% of supply chain administrators’ time is wasted just correcting reducible data errors,” said Sadiwnyk. “Invoice discrepancies alone cost $40-$400 per incident, and 60% of all invoices have errors, so the cost implications for our healthcare system are huge.” The retail and grocery industries have already minimized such errors through adoption of global standards, enabling companies to simplify the exchange of information required for more efficient and effective trade. GS1 Canada’s presentation showcased how the CareNET-spearheaded Supply Chain Standards Project will assist the Canadian healthcare industry to realize similar benefits, such as improving cost efficiency, boosting staff productivity, and paving the way for patient safety enhancements; ultimately ensuring that Canadian healthcare trading partners are able to fully operate in an increasingly electronically-driven global supply chain reality. The winner of CareNET’s iPod draw was Yvonne Geverink, Director of Logistics for Central Ontario Healthcare Procurement Alliance (COHPA). Nils Clausen, General Manager, Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX), did the honours of drawing the winning card at the close of the National Healthcare Supply Chain Conference. Enabling Digital Signatures For Controlled Substances E-orderingNew GS1 Canada Certificate of Authority Service now launched GS1 Canada is taking a leadership position to support Canada’s pharmacy sector in its quest to significantly reduce or eliminate the manual paper processes associated with the ordering and receipt of controlled substances. On April 1, 2009, GS1 Canada launched the GS1 Canada Certificate of Authority Service, which validates the identities of pharmacy professionals qualified to manage transactions for controlled substances (narcotics), and provides a Health Canada-compliant digital signature that is necessary to electronically order and receive these highly sensitive pharmaceuticals. Recent research results from the 2009 Narcotics Ordering Research Study, conducted by the Canadian Pharmacy Distribution Network (CPDN) and GS1 Canada, indicates that cost savings between 18–44% per controlled substances purchase order are achieved when hospitals implement automated processes. The study also highlights other areas for savings potential available through further elimination of paper-based activities, process enhancement and standardization. The launch of the GS1 Canada Certificate of Authority Service coincides with the Canadian Pharmaceutical Distribution Network’s (CPDN) new web-ordering system that distributes pharmaceuticals to over 70% of Canada’s hospital pharmacies. For more information, contact GS1 Canada at CAservice@gs1ca.org or call 1-800-567-7084 ext. 3. CareNET Welcomes New MembersMembership continues to expand CareNET would like to welcome its new members that have taken a step towards helping to shape the future of Canadian healthcare. These newest members illustrate the engagement in every segment of the Canadian healthcare industry, notably new member solution providers that showcase the industry’s commitment in adopting common standards to enhance industry wide efficiency and interoperability through the supply chain and within solution provider systems. Welcome to the following new CareNET members: GHX delivers software and services that enhance business performance of healthcare companies around the globe and is owned by representatives of the entire supply chain, including manufacturers, distributors, providers and group purchasing organizations. ORMED Information Systems is the largest Canadian supplier of finance and materials management software to Canada’s healthcare industry. Graphic Controls LLC is a global leader in developing and manufacturing a broad portfolio of products, such as Point of Sale (POS), kiosk and receipt papers, and PVC cards. Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre provides hospital and other services to about 30,000 people living in First Nation and other communities. The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is Canada’s most research-intensive hospital and the largest centre dedicated to improving children’s health in the country. As innovators in child health, SickKids improves the health of children by integrating care, research and teaching. For additional details, contact Herb Martin, CareNET Manager, GS1 Canada at carenet@gs1ca.org. CareNET Community Groups UpdateExpansion of boards and initiatives continue The CareNET Healthcare Sector Board provides strategic leadership to ensure the goals and objectives of CareNET are realized in order to advance supply chain safety and efficiencies within the healthcare sector. Recent changes to the CareNET Healthcare Sector Board include a new executive committee and additional executive representation from organizations throughout Canada. The CareNET Healthcare Sector Board would like to welcome the following new members:
The CareNET Executive Committee 2009 is comprised of:
At its March 24, 2009 launch meeting, the CareNET Healthcare Standards Council reviewed the Healthcare Implementation Roadmap & Sector Vision, a high-level roadmap of implementation timelines for the Canadian healthcare industry. The current draft of the recommended roadmap identifies such milestone dates as the implementation of the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) for product identification by 2012, and readiness to integrate Global Location Numbers (GLNs) by 2010. Utilizing their healthcare operations and e-commerce expertise, the Healthcare Technical Standards Work Group will be maintaining the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Transaction sets established as a Phase II deliverable for the Supply Chain Standards Project and will also be initiating requirements for the healthcare GLN registry. The Work Group is also establishing the Healthcare Product Identification Task Group to continue the development of standards for local technical information, product identification and encoded data requirements within the Canadian healthcare sector. The Healthcare Product Identification Task Group will:
The Canadian Healthcare Product Identification Task Group requires healthcare business and technical subject matter experts who will ensure that healthcare operations, clinical care and regulatory needs are met. Task Group participants should represent healthcare product users in the supply chain, including manufacturers and healthcare providers. Meetings will be conducted as regularly scheduled bi-monthly teleconferences that will run 1.5 hours in length. To participate in this Task Group, register online and select the Healthcare Canada Community - Healthcare Product Identification Task Group. For current CareNET members wishing to join this Task Group or for more information, contact Rita Laur, Director, Standards, GS1 Canada at Rita.Laur@gs1ca.org. RFID Journal LIVE! Canada 2009 Features Healthcare TrackTrack and trace to successfully manage today’s healthcare supply chain Registration is now open for RFID Journal LIVE! Canada 2009, taking place on October 5-6, 2009 at the Toronto Congress Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Register now Presented once again in partnership with RFID Journal, GS1 Canada is set to expand this year’s agenda with the overarching theme of tracking and tracing, including session tracks dedicated to healthcare, supply chain management and logistics, traceability, and retail and manufacturing. The focus on healthcare at RFID Journal LIVE! Canada 2009 comes as CareNET continues to develop healthcare initiatives throughout Canada. CareNET’s new, expanded mandate includes 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 its members’ supply chain efficiencies. Healthcare sessions at RFID Journal LIVE! Canada 2009 will show attendees how increased visibility in the healthcare supply chain will enhance efficiencies and productivity, increase levels of patient safety, and support cost-savings through presentations on:
RFID Journal and GS1 Canada are currently accepting requests to speak at RFID Journal LIVE! Canada 2009. If your organization has a story that illustrates traceability solutions and/or standards successes in healthcare, share your experience and case studies at RFID Journal LIVE! Canada 2009. For participation information, see the RFID Journal Canada LIVE! 2009 Call for Speakers or contact Aliki Zacharia, Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs, GS1 Canada at Aliki.Zacharia@gs1ca.org. Oprah Showcases Bar Coding In HealthcareRaising public awareness to enhance patient safety The February 19, 2009 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show featured a segment on bar coding in hospitals and its impact on patient safety. The segment highlighted the story of actor Dennis Quaid’s infant twins, who almost died in 2007 as a result of an incorrect medication dosage given to them while in hospital. "I think that the reason (this happened to us) is to raise public awareness and to get something done about computerized record keeping and bar coding in hospitals,” said Quaid on the program. “That’s going to save lives…a lot of lives." Dr. Mehmet Oz, M.D., a medical expert who appears regularly on The Oprah Winfrey Show, supported Quaid’s statement, explaining that "computerized order entry and, more importantly, these bar coding systems that [Quaid] is talking about, have dramatically changed the way practice is conducted in hospitals”. Over the past five years, Dr. Oz said hospitals that have adopted a "grocery store" system have eliminated dosage errors. "We’re not talking about a small little jump here," he said. "We’re talking about a dramatic shift." CareNET, as Canada’s healthcare sector strategy to standardize the healthcare supply chain, intends to assist Canada in the dramatic shift Dr. Oz spoke to in order to eliminate errors that result in potentially fatal errors like Quaid’s story. Get more information on this episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show and additional details on automated identification of pharmaceutical products initiatives occurring in Canada. Canadian Healthcare Environmental Scan Set For 2009Firm to perform research on current and future state of Canadian healthcare The Canadian Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Project has solicited the assistance of the Innovative Research Group, Inc., a national public opinion research firm, to perform an environmental scan to gather baseline information regarding e-commerce in Canada’s healthcare sector. The results of the scan will reveal a better understanding of the current and future state of key issues within the supply chain. Through four key segments of the healthcare industry – providers (hospitals), suppliers, group purchasing organizations, and technology solution providers – the Innovative Research Group will be performing interviews with key decision-makers in these segments. The research resulting from the interviews and surveys will be used to drive global standards that improve patient safety, cost efficiency, and staff productivity. Selected organizations will be contacted in the upcoming months to participate in this initiative. Interviews will continue into mid-2009 and results will be communicated in the fall. For more information on the environmental scan, contact Rob Bell, Director, Healthcare, GS1 Canada, at Rob.Bell@gs1ca.org. Ecommerce Standards Activity in La Belle ProvinceSupport for CareNET increasing in Quebec Traditionally, CareNET representation in the province of Quebec has been lower than other provinces – particularly considering Quebec has the second largest number of acute care sites in Canada. However, there are strong signs that this is now changing. St. Mary’s Health Centre and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), both located in Montreal, have been CareNET members since 1998 and 2005 respectively. However, these two organizations accounted for less than 5% of the acute care hospitals sites in the province. The Sherbrooke region implemented an electronic commerce trading environment in their member hospitals several years ago. St. Mary’s Health Centre has undertaken a recent campaign to increase their electronic trading and their ecommerce volume have grown substantially over the past six months. In Fall 2008, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), a group of three acute care sites in Quebec City, joined as members of CareNET and were followed shortly by Centre Hospitalier de L’Université de Montréal (CHUM). Both organizations connected through iCongo, a Quebec-based network gateway that delivers electronic data interchange (EDI) documents either directly to the hospitals’ suppliers, or through Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) and TELUS. Three groups – CHUQ, MUHC and Sherbrooke – have been using iCongo as their network gateway since 2006. More importantly, several members of CHUQ have become more active in the creation and implementation of GS1 global healthcare standards. Gilles St-Laurent has accepted a position on the CareNET Healthcare Sector Board and Healthcare Standards Council. Eric Blanchette-Ouellet currently serves as the co-chair on the Healthcare Standards Working Group, which is instrumental in developing future healthcare supply chain standards based on the GS1 model. “I am extremely pleased to participate on the CareNET Healthcare Sector Board,” said Gilles St-Laurent. “This allows me to contribute to the creation of global standards, an area that I am most passionate about. In addition to the electronic purchase order, purchase order acknowledgement and advance ship notice, we currently perform database alignment using the 832 Price & Sales Catalog EDI transaction, but we are looking to advance well beyond this functionality.” CareNET is currently planning to participate in the 40th annual AQLASS Congress on June 10, 2009 in the Congress Centre in Rimouski, QC. In addition to participating briefly on the agenda, CareNET will be participating with a booth. Although this recent activity and progress bodes well for CareNET’s expansion in Quebec, there is still a great deal of work to be done. Pierre Veilleux, Vice President, ECCnet Image & Validation, GS1 Canada will spearhead this activity in order to advance the supply chain standards in Quebec. For more information, contact Herb Martin, CareNET Manager, GS1 Canada, at carenet@gs1ca.org. Upcoming healthcare eventsNetworking opportunities with key healthcare stakeholders 40th Annual AQLASS Conference GS1 Canada and CareNET will be represented at the 40th Annual AQLASS Conference which offers a networking setting for healthcare stakeholders and is the ideal opportunity to learn and discover new products and services. GS1 Healthcare Conference Attend the 14th annual GS1 Healthcare Conference to stay up to date on regulatory developments on automatic identification, traceability and electronic product catalogues. Network with and learn from key stakeholders on the improvements that will achieve standardization and global harmonization in the healthcare supply chain. David Loukras, Supply Chain Lead, BC Health Authority Shared Services, will present on the Canadian Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Project and the Canadian vaccine traceability project with PHAC. AHRMM09 Annual Conference & Exhibition - Mapping the Future The AHRMM Conference & Exhibition is a forum where supply chain professionals can take the lead to show their organization how to implement creative ideas that save significant dollars. Network with other leaders and acquire tools to help navigate through the uncertain economic climate to successfully map the future of the healthcare supply chain. RFID Journal LIVE! Canada 2009 HealthAchieve 2009 HealthAchieve2009 aims to inspire ideas and innovation with over 50 informative and engaging educational sessions along with its award-winning exhibit floor, where more than 300 exhibitors showcase the latest healthcare products, services and technologies. |
Recent News Associations Align to Advance Patient Safety and Healthcare Supply Chain Efficiencies CareNET and GS1 Canada Enter into Strategic Alliance Newsletters |
The Government of Alberta, Alberta Health Services, has become the newest supporter of the Canadian Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Project, illustrating the Project’s continuous gain of support and the inroads it has made in the national adoption of consistent global supply chain standards. The Supply Chain Standards Project is a 15-month initiative to develop and drive national adoption of consistent, global supply chain standards to enable electronic procurement, interoperability and traceability across the healthcare sector.
The second annual