Standards in Healthcare

Implementing standards across the supply chain has allowed organizations across industry sectors to realize process efficiencies and cost savings. The healthcare sector now has the opportunity to experiences these benefits, including:

• Bar codes and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags reduce medical errors by matching product data to patient data (with the patient's consent)
• Traceability along the healthcare supply chain helps ensure that a patient receives the right dosage of the right medication at the right time
• Automatic Identification technology ensures the authenticity of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device products
• Accurate product identification enables efficient product recalls and withdrawals, protecting patients against potentially harmful products
• Accurate product data contained in item master files reduces data errors that can be transferred into patient and inventory records

Reducing Costs Without Compromising Patient Care

• Adoption of supply chain standards created long-term savings of 15-30% for the retail sector; similar supply chain improvements in Ontario hospitals alone have been estimated at $300 million
• Efficiencies and savings achieved can be reinvested into priority services and programs

Freeing Up Healthcare Professionals

• Reduced focus on paperwork and manual process, enabling more time for frontline patient care
• Minimize need to relabel products, as bar codes accurately and consistently identify items across the supply chain
• Automatic product replenishment saves time formerly spent manually ordering product, counting stock or filling out requisitions

Eliminating Inaccurate Data - For Good

• Reduction in time and effort wasted through inconsistent and inaccurate data sharing between trading partners
• Healthcare trading partners have access to a centralized source of accurate, standardized product data
• Operational efficiencies and cost savings enabled through data integrity

Why Now?

Governments are also supporting the adoption of global standards. There is an immediate need for standardization across Canada's healthcare system to enable efficiencies, traceability and interoperability. This supports provincial healthcare providers, as many providers are consolidating to Shared Service Organizations to facilitate supply chain efficiencies and interoperability.

Why Carenet?

Carenet will support Canadian healthcare stakeholders every step of the way to ensure the successful implementation of supply chain standards. Standardization will enable improved business processes to protect patients and enhance efficiencies. Carenet members represent all components of the healthcare supply chain, ensuring that decisions on standards are made collaboratively, with realistic strategies for implementation across the healthcare sector.