Measuring the Impact of Data Standards in an Internal Hospital Supply System

Within a healthcare supply chain, the ability to trace and track patient care items through the use of unique identifiers has been shown to be a best practice. Data standardization through the use of Global Trade Item Numbers (GTIN) and Global Location Numbers (GLN) has helped hospitals improve patient safety and medical cost reimbursements. Despite these proven benefits the full adoption of data standards across all items throughout the industry has been slow to be achieved. This paper uses simulation to illustrate the potential benefits within a hospital supply system in terms of the improved management of items that can expire. By reducing the time and cost associated within expiration management, hospitals can show the benefits of data standards and justify the efforts to move towards a full adoption of data standards.