Data Standards Site Launched by AHRMM
The Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM) recently launched a new website to support the development of data standards for the healthcare supply chain. This site is a single source of information that can be used by facilities to procure all the related information to their own supply chain. Launch of the site was posted on the AHRMM website.
Information contained on the site details GS1 standards, in addition to those from the Unique Device Identifier Program (UDI) and the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC). This can provide supply chain managers in healthcare facilities with basic or preliminary information about existing data standards.
A recent report by the AHRMM briefly reviewed the importance of data standards within the healthcare industry. Moreover, the organization endorsed the use of GS1 standards to support supply chain management. GS1 standards are the most commonly used, 90 percent of organizations and companies across the world utilize GS1 (either GDSN, GLN, or GTIN). These universal standards support the regulation of operations.
The brief report notes the array of both data and information available across the healthcare industry. Though this is all available, its relevance must be determined particularly the tools that apply to the healthcare supply chain. The new website from the AHRMM is intended to educate materials managers better understand the various available data standards and how they are utilized.
Data indicates that at least $11 billion is wasted on an annual basis within the healthcare supply chain. That data is from 1996 and during the ten years prior, waste estimates had more than doubled. One reason for such waste is the lack of data standards in the healthcare supply chain.
Some standards do exist, but they have been adopted on a limited basis. In other cases, they have yet to be thoroughly developed. In the interest of addressing this issue and reducing these costs, partnerships have been established within the healthcare community to create appropriate standards. A secondary goal of these groups is to encourage the broad utilization of such within the industry.
The need to develop these standards for the healthcare industry has been previously described on HospitalBuyer. The Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Coalition has similarly endorsed the GS1 standards. Specific intentions include use of the GTIN and GLN standards.
April 8, 2008 Related topics: Trends, Standardization, Materials Management