A collection of group purchasing organizations has announced their readiness to adopt standards for identifying healthcare provider locations.
In a unanimous vote, the board of directors of the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association (HIGPA) said they're prepared to adopt global location numbers (GLNs) that would identify locations for every healthcare provider in the United States.
There is no current standard for uniquely identifying the location of providers or medical products in the healthcare supply chain. The healthcare industry had established a "sunrise" date of Dec. 31, 2010 to have a system in place, but the HIGPA says it's ready to move ahead now.
"This is a quiet change that will have an enormous impact," said HIGPA President Curtis Rooney. "Right now, there is no reliable system in place to know where essential healthcare providers are located. The adoption of GLNs by GPOs is the first step toward better ensuring that the right products are delivered to the right location."
"It is important all healthcare supply chain entities also adopt these standards," he added.
According to Rooney, the next step will be the implementation of global trade item numbers (GTINs) by Dec. 31, 2012. GTINs will standardize the unique identification of every medical product.
Having a single, nationwide system in effect will increase patient safety and efficiency and reduce costs, he said
"Knowing the location of healthcare products will speed product recalls and better ensure that patients aren't treated with the wrong medical supplies," Rooney said. "The country will be better equipped, in the event of a public health crisis, to rapidly locate essential healthcare providers and medical supplies."
"In this day and age, it is unthinkable that the healthcare industry is still challenged to know where every item in their inventory is located," he added.
According to HIGPA officials, the GPOs that have signed a declaration of readiness to accept the GLNs are Amerinet, MedAssets, the Child Health Corporation of America, Novation, Consorta, the Premier healthcare alliance, GNYHA Ventures, Provista, the HealthTrust Purchasing Group and HPS.