The 38th GS1 Healthcare Global Conference brings together 450 experts from 55 countries to spread traceability and security in the healthcare ecosystem
A 38th Global Healthcare Conference, promoted by GS1, represented in the country by the Brazilian Association for Automation-GS1 Brasil, brings together 450 healthcare experts from 55 countries in Sao Paulo to exchange ideas and expose trends on the topic “Connecting the future of health with a simple code reading” . From 3 October to today, various conferences and panels have contributed to the dissemination of identification standards for drugs and medical-hospital devices that make traceability processes in the supply chain possible. These are the factors that initiate different management phases to improve healthcare services and improve patient experience, starting with their safety in relation to the origin of medicines and supplies.
In this 38th edition of the conference which has already visited several countries – now for the second time in Brazil -, the main objective of bringing together professionals in the sector is the exchange of knowledge and experience in the management of healthcare workers’ data, in hospital logistics and regulatory trends in the pharmaceutical sector, as well as the implementation of GS1 standards in the pharmaceutical and hospital supply chain.
At the opening of the third edition, Renaud de Barbuat, president and CEO of GS1 Global, commented that one of the institution’s greatest strengths is its community work. “It’s being able to share a passion for contributing to society and healthcare around the world. We support stakeholders in reducing risks. Collaboration is at the heart of GS1.”
“This is a unique annual event, where the entire industry ecosystem – manufacturers, sellers, suppliers and regulators – comes together to share global scenarios and exchange knowledge,” he says. For him, the Brazilian edition is very important, as the country is very close to GS1 in building even safer healthcare for patients.
For Géraldine Lissalde-Bonnet, Vice President of Healthcare at GS1, the entity’s work in the sector represents a great opportunity to ensure access to healthcare for the greatest number of people around the world. “With the implementation of GS1 codes, we have the opportunity to ensure the use of reliable drugs and instruments.” According to Géraldine, “the personalized medicine that we so desire is ever closer to becoming a reality; we are very committed and involved in this movement”.
“The healthcare sector is one of the most important for us at GS1 Brasil. After 13 years, we once again host the global conference, which brings us the evolution of knowledge and the exchange of international experiences with Brazilian professionals,” says João Carlos de Oliveira, president of the Brazilian Association for Automation-GS1 Brasil. “From this meeting we will certainly come out with many projects to improve traceability and patient safety systems.”
Grant Courtney, traceability leader at the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), highlighted the importance of using GS1 standards so that authentic medicines safely reach people in need around the world. The manager clarifies that Unicef carries out tracking at a global level, as the operation is based on five pillars: dashboard, which allows you not to start from scratch in each mission; reuse in different fields; interoperability, as medicines and supplies are purchased worldwide and their origin, authenticity and safety must be guaranteed; community, since all work is considered as one big family; and speed, so that everything is done quickly. Grant highlights “the partnership with GS1 as an important factor in the success of this important project.”
According to João Carlos de Oliveira, GS1 plays a fundamental role in this context. “The use of global and open standards to identify products and materials in hospital institutions around the world facilitates traceability automation processes.” Oliveira explains that “traceability ensures the origin of the inputs, detailed monitoring of the distribution flow and recording of vital information such as production date, batch and expiry date.”
More data, less waste
The flow of information between members of the industry ecosystem plays a vital role in achieving better results. Unstructured data leads to errors, supply chain inefficiencies, delays, increased costs and compromised patient safety.
One of the meeting’s panels, “Building capacity to support next-generation data management in healthcare providers,” featured a report by Andrew Raynes, CIO of Royal Papworth Hospital (UK), on the collaborative use of technology combined with GS1 standards to create a healthy ecosystem for the hospital. “All the materials we purchase have a GS1 identifier. We also scan both medicines and patient bracelets,” says Raynes. “As a result, our waste level dropped from 5% to 1% and we were able to monitor 60,000 patients remotely. We reduced errors and maximized team efforts. It’s a continuous improvement project,” he explains.
In Brazil, Alemão Oswaldo Cruz Hospital seeks to optimize processes and improve effectiveness to achieve goals set for better care. Fátima Silvana Furtado Gerolin, head nurse of the institute, illustrated the results of the digitization of data integrated between the medicines administered to patients, the identification card of healthcare workers and the patient’s bracelet. “We managed to reduce notifications of adverse events related to drug administration by 75%, we improved the safety of healthcare workers and there was also a reduction in costs.”
Marta Garcia, executive director of Clínica Helios Salud, told the story of the institute which, with the help of GS1 standards, achieved 98% patient compliance with HIV treatment. “They arrive at appointments with QR Codes (GS1 DataMatrix), which preserve their identity.”
Garcia explains that “we also follow the monitoring of drug recalls, as well as creating a monitoring project for pharmacies and developing an app to allow doctors to see the medical history of patients.”
Website: https://healthcareconference.gs1.org/
Source: Terra
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