Dear Valued Subscriber:

GS1 Canada’s Boards and Working Committees continue to work diligently to respond to the needs of Canada’s healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. Together, with their collaboration and support, we are excited to share progress being made about the ongoing adoption of GS1 standards.

Art Smith, GS1 Canada CEO, appointed to Global Healthcare Leadership Team

We are excited to announce that GS1 Canada’s CEO, Art Smith, has been elected to the Global Healthcare Leadership team for the 2017/2018 term. This appointment allows for Art and GS1 Canada to contribute to the movement of a worldwide increase in patient safety and operational efficiency through the adoption of GS1 global standards in healthcare around the world.

Click here to see the entire Leadership Team.

Congratulations, Art!

Federal government announces $1.6 million for SCAN Health to advance healthcare supply chain

Kate Young, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Science, and Joël Lightbound, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, have announced a $1.6 Million Networks of Centres of Excellence International Knowledge Translation Platform (NCE-IKTP) grant over four years for the Supply Chain Advancement Network in Health (SCAN Health), hosted by the University of Windsor.

SCAN Health will position Canada as a global leader advancing supply chain innovation in healthcare to improve patient safety, health system sustainability, and economic growth for companies.

The results are staggering! See how Derby Teaching Hospitals are improving patient outcomes using GS1 global standards

Striving to improve safety and efficiency, Derby Teaching Hospitals (UK NHS) have applied GS1 global standards to accurately identify patients, product and places, while streamlining internal processes.

With strained resources, Derby Teaching Hospitals looked to GS1 standards to improve the following processes:

1. Patient Identification – GS1 wristbands were introduced to ensure identification of the right patient as well as track patients through the course of their recovery.
2. Product Identification – GS1 GTINs now identify and trace products that interact with patients in any way.
3. Place – GS1 GLNs to identify the specific locations – right down to individual stairwells.
4. Process Optimization –  Standardized EDI transactions and inventory management helped create the foundation for better patient care and increased traceability.

With global standards, Derby Teaching Hospitals are saving at least 1 million pounds per year through increased efficiency and cutting down on wastage.

More importantly, Derby has massively improved patient safety, cutting down the time to identify patients affected by product recalls from 50 hours per patient to 30 minutes to identify all affected patients.

Believe it for yourself – watch the video from Derby Hospital or read their case study on our website to learn more.

Did you miss the latest GS1 Canada Healthcare webinar on assigning permanent GTINs?

Don’t worry – you can still learn all about this important healthcare issue!

Visit GS1 Canada's Learning Zone to access best-in-class training resources for a complete education on permanent GTINs or visit our Permanent GTIN webpage.