CHeS News & Updates is a monthly broadcast message sent directly to CHeS
member firms from the office of the Coalition for Healthcare
eStandards. Compiled by Peggy Brody, Director of
Communications, this information is intended to keep CHeS
member representatives current on CHeS and CHeS-related events.
Please share this information with your colleagues who are
working to promote and implement industry-wide adoption of
health care supply chain standards. Should you have any
questions or comments, feel free to contact
me at any time.
Peggy Brody, Director of Communications
Coalition for Healthcare eStandards
3300 Washtenaw Ave., Suite 225
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
Phone: 734-677-3300
Fax: 734-677-6622
GLN (global location number) ______________________________________
About GLN:
Customer identification by Global Location
Number (GLN) is a way for health care providers and their
suppliers to identify their organizations across the supply
chain. The GLN is a physical number that is assigned to
each entity within an organization.
Just as individuals use a unique Social
Security Number when doing business with the US Government,
there is now a proven and reliable alternative to proprietary
numbers: the GLN, which provides a unique and commonly
available number to each location where suppliers ship
products.
By using the GLN, suppliers can obtain
accurate information about healthcare provider locations from a
central database, so they have everything they need to know in
order to properly ship, deliver, and bill products. Both
customers and suppliers may be assigned globally unique GLNs
that improve accuracy and speed within the supply chain.
GLN Webinars Now Available
This web seminar introduces GLNs, explains
how they can be used to identify physical locations, functional
entities, and legal entities in electronic commerce.
The seminar will cover:
• How GLNs are used
• How GLNs are used in the GDSN
• The benefits of using GLNs
• The structure of the GLN
What’s New in GLN:
GPOs renew contracts
Five leading U.S. health care group
purchasing organizations (GPOs), Amerinet, Consorta, MedAssets
Supply Chain Systems, Novation, and Premier, are subscribers to
the GLN Registry for Healthcare™, a database containing a
comprehensive list of health care facilities within the United
States and their unique Global Location Numbers (GLNs). A GLN
is a globally recognized identification number based on GS1
System (formerly EAN.UCC System) standards.
GLNs are being assigned
As of April 2006, registry includes more
than 84,000 GLNs for hospitals, health care manufacturers and
distributors, clinics, retail and mail-order pharmacies, and
other health care-related facilities.
GLN Quote of the Month
“The use of the GLN is important for
our organization. It would result in reducing the number of
customer numbers that we actively managefrom 1,100 to about 40,
a 96% reduction.”
GLN Tip of the Month: How to Get a Global
Location Number (GLN)
If you belong to a group purchasing
organization which is a member of GS1, you
can get a GLN number by contacting:
Jim Van Drasek
System Director, Materials Mgmt.
HealthEast Care System
St. Paul, Minnesota
Amerinet
Terri Jarus
Vice President, Contract Services
314-542-1902
Consorta
Ellen S. Blix
Manager, Membership Services
847-592-7886
MedAssets
Michael Hayes
Director of Product Development
MedAssets Analytical Systems
720-407-1746
Novation
Jay Bass
Manager, Operational Services
VHA, Inc.
972-830-7889
PREMIER
Kathy Markham
Business Analyst, Operations
704-733-5544
GS1
John Roberts
Director of Healthcare
609-620-4563
PDU (product identification) _______________________________________
About Product Data Utility (PDU):
Data synchronization is the electronic
transfer of standardized product and location information and
the continuous synchronization of that data over time. Product
information includes:
• Item attributes controlled by the
supplier, such as size, height, and weight
• Price and promotion data controlled
by the supplier
Location information includes:
• Locations involved in trade, such as
headquarter, billing, and ship to addresses
To be effective, data synchronization can
not be done once. It is an ongoing business process that
requires continuous exchange of data between trading partners.
A health care PDU would provide a central
industry resource for standardized product data from
manufacturers and distributors and enable all participants to
synchronize and maintain accurate item files in near real time
from the manufacturers through the supply chain the end user.
PDU Webinar Now Available
On April 24, CHeS sponsored “Health
Care Product Data Utility for Hospitals and IDNS”. If you
missed this session, you can download it here.
What’s New in PDU:
PDU White Paper Tells All
According to the Data Synchronization in Healthcare: A Solvable Problem white paper, leaders in the healthcare
supply chain are rapidly reaching the same conclusion as those
in a growing number of other industries already have. Authors
William L. Rosenfeld and John L Stelzer of Sterling Commerce
document that inconsistent, inaccurate business information
within and between companies directly undermines critical
business objectives (e.g., revenue, profit, time-to-market,
customer satisfaction, etc.). Supply chain masters like
Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid, Eckerd Drug, Kroger,
Albertsons, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Kimberly-Clark,
Wyeth Health, Procter & Gamble, and thousands of others are
forging a new level of business efficiency and effectiveness.
The secret to their success is rooted in
something called global data
synchronization. By establishing a
foundation of accurate, consistent business information within
their organizations and between themselves and others with
which they conduct business, these companies are posting
heretofore unheard-of performance improvements. What is perhaps
even more important, though, is the fact that this foundation
of reliable business information is driving enormous upside
potential for process streamlining and automation to further
improve business performance.
PDU Organizing Committee Expands
New members include representatives of
Carolinas Medical Center:
• OSF Healthcare System
• Mayo Clinic
• Lawson Software
• Enthicon Endo-Surgery
RFI to be issued by PDU Organizing
Committee
The PDU Organizing Committee is currently
following a project plan for 2006 which calls for a Request for
Information (RFI) document that will outline the requirements
and expectations for a health care PDU. In preparation for
issuing a RFI, CHeS has contracted with a leading authority on
the development of PDUs in other industries to produce the
specifications for a requirements document for a global health
care PDU.
The document will give details as to the
requirements for the adoption and implementation of data
synchronization. Included will be:
• In-depth analysis of current state
of the data synchronization initiative
• Overview of current health care
environment as it pertains to a health care PDU
• Detailed documentation of
requirements needed for the implementation of a
health care PDU
• Information and recommendations
related to Certified Data Pools
• Detailed recommendations for next
steps moving forward
The requirements document is scheduled to
be complete in August, 2006. Stay tuned for more information
about this important action step.
PDU Quote of the Month
“We all have bad data. Synchronizing
data via industry PDU can reduce transaction costs, increase
efficiencies and improve patient safety.”
Kathleen Garvin
Program Manager
Department of Defense
Data Synchronization
UNSPSC® (product classification) ____________________________________
About UNSPSC®:
The United Nations Standard Products and
Services Code® (UNSPSC®) is an open, global standard taxonomy that
allows organizations to consistently classify the products and
services they buy and sell. Sanctioned by the United Nations
and administered by GS1 US, the UNSPSC is designed to group
similar products together into categories, which is valuable
for analysis, organization and searching for and ordering
products.
What’s New in UNSPSC®:
Case studies tell the story of providers
using UNSPSC®
Learn how two leading health care providers
implemented the UNSPSC® to classify products across their systems
to understand what is being ordered, how it is being ordered
and at what cost.
University Health Care is the leading
health care provider in a 22-county region, with 450
independent, private physicians. Launching into a
classification project in August 2004, University mapped out a
strategy for bringing structure to the hospital's supply item
master file using UNSPSC® categories. Follow the process and learn how
using the UNSPSC® data standard to negotiate a purchasing
agreement saved University $600,000 per year. Download the study here.
A health care delivery network of aligned
hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, home care
agencies and many other programs makes up Ministry Health Care,
serving Wisconsin and Minnesota. Learn how this major health
care provider moved from eight different MMIS systems with line
items numbering from 8,000 to 30,000 to a shared item master
using UNSPSC. Download the study here.
New UNSPSC® Blog!
Fast Fact: Average
search results list over 100 blogs with UNSPSC references and
advice.
Usage up in 2006
The Coalition for Healthcare eStandards
(CHeS) first endorsed the use of the UNSPSC® in 2002. To
learn how the nation’s top group purchasing organizations
and supply chain solutions companies are using the UNSPSC and
making it available to their customers and member
organizations, click here.
UNSPSC® User Tip of the Month
By embedding UNSPSC®
classification standards into management systems, procurement
can keep an eye on how much is spent buying what. This can take
half (or less) the time it takes to find the products by
searching by commodity code through brokers, online exchanges,
business partners, etc. Use UNSPSC® to spot buying patterns across departments
or business units to leverage better conditions from suppliers
and realize overall savings.
UNSPSC® Quote of the Month
“My first day on the job, my boss
told me to just pay attention to coronary stents and spinal
implants. I immediately discovered that I had no usuable data
upon which to base my actions. I was flying blind.”
Mike Brown
Director of Purchasing
University Health Care System
About the Coalition for Healthcare
eStandards (CHeS) _________________________
The Coalition for Healthcare eStandards,
Inc. (CHeS) is a collaborative of organizations dedicated to
promoting the adoption and use of open data standards in the
health care industry. Through the work of task forces, CHeS
makes recommendations to accelerate industry-wide adoption of
comprehensive data standards and encourages other industry
representatives to participate in e-commerce standards work
groups.
