FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GS1 global Healthcare user group elects new leadership team to guide the Healthcare sector to standardised solutions for identification and visibility in the healthcare supply chain.
Contact: Jan Denecker, GS1 Global Office, jan.denecker@gs1.org, +32 2 788 78 36 (office)
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 2 July 2009 -GS1 Healthcare, a voluntary, global Healthcare user group, today announced their newly elected leadership team to lead the sector into a new era of Healthcare-wide implementation of standardised supply chain solutions. These will address security and efficiency concerns in the Healthcare supply chain, including medication errors, counterfeiting and product recalls. The cost and complexity of diverse regulations, proprietary service offerings and incompatible solutions, has led the community to call for defining and adoption of global, open and neutral standards.
The GS1 Healthcare Leadership Team embodies representation of key stakeholders in the Healthcare supply chain worldwide, including leading Healthcare organisations; Abbott Laboratories, Alcon Laboratories (Nestlé), Baxter, B.Braun, Covidien, GlaxoSmithKline, J&J, McKesson, Medtronic, Novartis, Novation, Pfizer, Premier, Robert Ballanger Hospital (France) and Smiths Medical. Many more Healthcare organisations are engaged in this initiative, either in the global user group or one of the 20 local user groups, from Australia to the US and from France to Japan.
Established in 2005, and with more than 500 experts in various standards development working groups and more than 10,000 contact hours, we are now experiencing the adoption and implementation of globally interoperable standards for healthcare, said Tim Marsh, Senior Manager, Business Technology, Pfizer, and co-chair of GS1 Healthcare, Although the development work will continue, I already want to thank all participants for their dedication and determination that brought us where we are today.
The global harmonisation of standards is needed to effectively comply with various identification, traceability and catalogue requirements around the world. Said Mike Wallace, Director, Global Standards & Serialization, Abbott Laboratories, and co-chair of GS1 Healthcare, To this end, this user group will continue to be a neutral and trusted source for governmental bodies and regulators for all related matters.
Some earlier notable examples: The UK Department of Health launched the Coding for Success programme, recommending the implementation of GS1 Standards throughout the English NHS; The National eHealth Transition Authorities (NeHTA), in Australia, has endorsed GS1 Standards for its eProcurement stategy; Cenabast, the Supply Center for the Ministry of
Health in Chile, will adopt GS1 Standards as part of a new initiative to improve the management and quality of its supply chain.
Representatives from the European Commission and the US FDA also participated in and spoke at the global GS1 Healthcare Conference in Washington DC (16-18 June 2009). Dr. Schultz, Director Center for Devices and Radiological Health, FDA, opened the conference, which was attended by 250 delegates from around the world, underlying the importance to start implementing solutions to increase supply chain security, in particular Unique Device Identification (UDI). There was also a webcast of the plenary sessions, which attracted over 1,000 viewers.
Voting members of the GS1 Healthcare Leadership Team:
| Abbott Laboratories: Mike Wallace (co-chair) | Medtronic: Jackie Elkin |
| Alcon Laboratories: Grant Hodgkins | Novartis: Scott Cameron |
| Baxter: Nathan Habeck | Novation: Dennis Byer |
| B.Braun: Volker Zeinar | Pfizer: Tim Marsh (co-chair) |
| Covidien: Kevin Mulligan | Premier: Joe Pleasant |
| GlaxoSmithKline: Grant Courtney | R. Ballanger Hospital: Frédérique Frémont |
| Johnson & Johnson: Tom Werthwine | Smiths Medical: Jim Willmott |
| McKesson: Ron Bone |
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
About GS1 and GS1 Healthcare
GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the design and implementation of global standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility in supply chains. GS1 is driven by more than a million companies, who execute more than six billion transactions a day with the GS1 System of Standards. GS1 is truly global, with local Member Organisations in 108 countries, with the Global Office in Brussels, Belgium.
GS1 Healthcare is a global, voluntary healthcare user group developing global standards for the healthcare supply chain and advancing global harmonisation. GS1 Healthcare consists of participants from all stakeholders of the Healthcare supply chain: manufacturers, wholesalers & distributors, as well as hospitals and pharmacy retailers. GS1 Healthcare also maintains close contacts with regulatory agencies and trade organisations worldwide. For more information, visit www.gs1.org/healthcare.
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