SCAN Health partnered with the Healthcare Transformation Group (HTG) on this year’s design competition to advance and inform progress of health system supply chain infrastructure. HTG identified the consistency, completeness and accuracy of product data as a key challenge within and across their supply chains. The problem is exacerbated by the current use of multiple product data registries each with unique requirements, by consumers and suppliers. For example, in the U.S., manufacturers can enter product data into the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) or may enter data directly into the Global Unique Device Identifier Database (GUDID). Each of these data registries has unique data structures and the type of product data varies across the two registries. In addition, most health organizations manage product data internally to support product procurement, inventory and logistics processes, product utilization, billing, and registration. The challenge being, there is no “single source or version of
