Baxter Corporation and Medbuy First Trading Partners in Canada to Synchronize Medical-Surgical Product Data

TORONTO, Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- To improve the accuracy and efficiency of the healthcare supply chain for the customers they serve, Baxter Corporation, the Canadian subsidiary of Baxter International Inc., and Medbuy, a Canadian national group purchasing organization (GPO), are leveraging the GHX Health ConneXion(SM) data pool to synchronize GS1 Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) for product identification through the GS1 Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN®). This marks the first time that medical-surgical trading partners in Canada have leveraged the GDSN to establish a single source of product data for supply chain business transactions.

Currently, healthcare trading partners often identify the same products in different ways as they transact business with one another. This leads to inefficiency, increased errors, labor and costs and ultimately can jeopardize patient safety. As trading partners look for new ways to both improve operational performance and enhance patient care, there is growing recognition of the value of standardizing product identification using global data standards, such as GTINs. As this information is shared with trading partners through the GDSN, healthcare suppliers can establish a single source of truth for their products that can be accessed by providers, GPOs and other business partners so all parties are transacting with the same set of accurate product data throughout the globe.

"Baxter endorses and strongly supports the GS1 standards for healthcare. We believe that industry wide adoption of these standards will improve patient safety and will drive increased efficiency and integrity within the healthcare system," said Michael Oliver, general manager, Baxter Corporation. "We are taking a lead in global data standards adoption in the Canadian marketplace because we believe that improving efficiency and reducing waste in the healthcare supply chain through global data standards ultimately helps advance the state of healthcare for providers and the patients that they serve."

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Over the past two years, Baxter has been actively implementing GS1 standards to meet customer and regulatory requirements globally. Baxter is already synchronizing data through a GDSN data pool in several countries.

Baxter now has published product data, including GS1 GTINs, for a portion of its Canadian product catalogue to the GDSN via the GHX Health ConneXion data pool, a healthcare-focused data pool certified by the GDSN. Medbuy, Canada's longest-standing national GPO, can now access this product data to standardize product identification for these Baxter Corporation products within its own catalogues, thereby enabling its provider members to order products from Baxter Corporation using GTINs in place of proprietary product numbers. Baxter Corporation, Medbuy and GHX are now working to publish GTINs for additional Baxter Corporation product lines to the GDSN so that Canadian healthcare providers can have access to standardized product data for Baxter Corporation's entire Canadian product line.

"Global data standards adoption holds tremendous potential to improve the healthcare supply chain and we are extremely pleased to be leading this effort in the Canadian marketplace," said DJ Robins, Chief Information Officer, Medbuy. "This is one of a number of initiatives we've undertaken to harness the power of data and, in particular, being able to provide our members with standardized and synchronized product data, we are helping them procure the right products at the right prices at the right times to enhance patient safety and achieve operational excellence."

"The work between Baxter Corporation and Medbuy represents a major milestone in global data standards adoption in Canada and we are proud to serve as a trusted partner in this effort," said Nils Clausen, general manager, GHX Canada. "Understanding that healthcare manufacturers use more than one data standard today, GHX offers suppliers an established infrastructure through which they can synchronize and share their supply chain data, making it easy and economical for them to meet market and regulatory demands for data standards in Canada and abroad."

About GHX

Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) makes healthcare more efficient by delivering software and services that enable both healthcare providers and suppliers to increase efficiency, lower costs and provide better patient care. With the largest footprint in healthcare supply chain management, GHX connects more than 80 percent of licensed hospital beds at U.S. hospitals, as well as providers in Canada and Europe, with the suppliers from which they purchase the majority of their medical-surgical supplies. GHX is transforming today's linear healthcare supply chain into the industry's only Healthcare Supply Cloud(SM), providing 360-degree visibility into areas affecting both clinical and financial performance. Working with GHX, organizations can improve business processes, automate supply chain systems and collaborate to solve the tough challenges facing healthcare today. GHX is owned by members of the healthcare industry, including Abbott Exchange, Inc.; AmerisourceBergen Corp.; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; B. Braun Medical Inc.; BD; Boston Scientific Corp.; Cardinal Health, Inc.; Covidien; C.R. Bard, Inc.; Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; GE Healthcare; HCA; Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.; McKesson Corp.; Medtronic USA, Inc.; Owens & Minor; Premier, Inc.; Siemens; University HealthSystem Consortium; and VHA Inc.  For more information, visit www.ghx.com. Follow GHX on Twitter @GHX_LLC and on Facebook @GHX.

About Medbuy

As Canada's longest standing national healthcare group purchasing organization, Medbuy partners with healthcare organizations – from hospitals, health authorities and shared services organizations to other publicly accountable health service providers – to deliver the best medical supplies, services and pharmaceuticals for the best possible price. Since 1989, we have saved the health system hundreds of millions of dollars.

With more than two decades of strategic sourcing experience and first-in-class technologies, we simplify your decisions, and ultimately, help you make the best choices for your patients.

About Baxter

As the Canadian subsidiary of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX), Baxter Corporation manufactures and markets products that save and sustain the lives of people living with hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma, and other chronic and acute medical conditions. As a global, diversified healthcare company, Baxter applies a unique combination of expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to create products that advance patient care worldwide.  

SOURCE GHX