GHX Announces Channel Intelligence Service to Enable Manufacturers to Meet December 2010 Sunrise Date for Global Location Numbers Adoption

LOUISVILLE, Colo., June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- As healthcare providers enumerate with GS1's Global Location Numbers (GLNs) in place of proprietary account numbers, healthcare suppliers are busy preparing their internal systems and processes to leverage GLNs in their supply chain transactions with their customers and partners ahead of the upcoming sunrise date. As of December 31, 2010, major group purchasing organizations (GPOs) and some healthcare systems will require manufacturers to use GLNs in business transactions, including when referencing providers in their GPO reporting. To meet this need, GHX is offering a customer master cleanse service under its current Channel Intelligence solution that appends provider GLNs to a manufacturer's customer master data, enabling manufacturers to propagate this standard for organization identification throughout their internal systems.

Through the customer master cleanse service, GHX cross-references a manufacturer's proprietary customer numbers with the GS1 GLN Registry for Healthcare®, then appends the GLN to the associated customer master and sends the manufacturer a file containing this modified data. The manufacturer can then upload this file into its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system if its system is capable of operating with this new standard. Through this process, manufacturers can supplement proprietary account numbers with GLNs to improve the accuracy and efficiency of GPO reporting and meet the requirements for the December sunrise date.

Currently, many manufacturers struggle with accurately calculating administrative fees for GPOs because it is difficult to identify which customers are eligible for which contracts and at what tier they are eligible. The problem increases when a GPO identifies healthcare facilities and their various locations by one set of numbers and a manufacturer identifies the same facilities and locations by its own set. Manufacturers spend a great deal of time and effort trying to determine contract eligibility and correct pricing, and errors can result in inaccurate payments to GPOs.

GHX is offering a new, two-part Web event series to provide insights on how to fully experience the benefits of GLN cleansing. The first session in the series, Value of Clean Customer Master Data, will take place at 1:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. To register, please visit: https://ghx.confedge.com/ap/registration/home.cfm?i=register&e=f371ad75-ca63-4442-a460-dc908a889ea1&grp=general.

In order to support those manufacturers who wish to communicate electronically with their customers and partners, GHX also provides services that enable a manufacturer to use GLNs in electronic transactions through the GHX exchange. These services support the accurate cross referencing of a manufacturer's proprietary account numbers with the trading partner's GLNs as necessary, helping enable the transmission and receipt of the various formats and versions required for successful GLN communication.  

For more information on GLN trading services, contact 1-800-YOUR-GHX or [email protected]

"Our supplier customers have been requesting assistance with GLN implementation so we developed this new service to complement our current Channel Intelligence offerings," said Ed McCauley, vice president, E-Sourcing and Business Intelligence, GHX. "GHX developed the customer master cleanse service to help streamline the process by which suppliers can satisfy the GLN sunrise requirements, as well as improve the overall quality of their customer data for more accurate trading partner transactions."

About GHX

As the business hub for healthcare, Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX) enables healthcare providers and suppliers in North America and Europe to reduce costs and improve margins by automating processes, reducing operating expenses and increasing knowledge-based decision making.  Products and services include trading partner connectivity, order and contract management and validation, data synchronization, sales force automation and business intelligence. Equity owners of GHX are 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.

SOURCE GHX