GHX Health ConneXion™ Data Pool

GHX Health ConneXion™ Data Pool Gains Momentum As Healthcare Industry Moves Toward Standards Adoption Healthcare providers, manufacturers, distributors and GPOs join growing list of organizations that have selected the only GDSN-certified data pool focused solely on healthcare.

LOUISVILLE, Colo. – October 15, 2009 – A growing number of healthcare providers, manufacturers, distributors and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) have chosen the GHXHealth ConneXion™ data pool, certified by GS1’s Global Data Synchronization Network(GDSN), to synchronize medical-surgical product data. Data synchronization is a critical element of the healthcare industry’s move toward the adoption of standards as a way to help improve patient care, while making the supply chain more efficient and cost-effective.The only GDSN-certified data pool focused exclusively on healthcare, the GHX HealthConneXion data pool, enables suppliers to publish industry-standard product data to the GDSN and share that data with authorized subscribers. This helps assure that any changes to product information made by manufacturers are automatically and immediately available to other authorized organizations. Among early adopters of the Health ConneXion data pool is Resource Optimization and Innovation (ROi), an operating division of Sisters of Mercy Health System, which serves a seven-state area including Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

“Obtaining accurate product information is paramount to executing clean, error-free transactions and ensuring timely deliveries,” said Alex Zimmerman, director of Supply Chain Information at ROI. “Right now we may get information about a product’s packaging contents, unit of measure or catalog number from a supplier’s customer service representative and that information is different from the company Web site or from a distributor. Product recall notification is also a continuing problem. GHX is a key enabler for us, and we are both confident and excited that data synchronization made possible through the Health ConneXion data pool will help resolve these issues and streamline a process we all recognize needs work.” Distributors also are joining the GHX Health ConneXion. They include Owens & Minor, a leading distributor of national name-brand medical and surgical supplies and a healthcare supply-chain management company.“ The Health ConneXion data pool offers Owens & Minor a cost-effective way to ensure that all our trading partners have access to the most accurate information about our products,” said Rick Mears, senior vice president and chief information officer at Owens & Minor, Inc. “Implementation costs were not significant because we were able to leverage our existing connectivity to the GHX exchange. As more members of the healthcare industry join and actively work to synchronize data and adopt standards, we will begin to see benefits across the entire supply chain.”

The GHX exchange connects a significant percentage of hospitals in North America and in
Europe. In the U.S. alone, GHX connects hospitals representing more than 82 percent of the
licensed beds with the suppliers from whom they purchase more than 90 percent of their
medical-surgical supplies. Healthcare organizations not integrated to GHX can also participate
in the Health ConneXion data pool as a standalone service.
Early adopters of the GHX Health ConneXion include:

• Baxter Healthcare Corporation
• Sisters of Mercy Health System/ROi
• Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.
• DeKroyft-Metz & Co.
• Novation
• Seneca Medical
• Aurora Health Care (Wisconsin)
• The University of Kentucky HealthCare (UK)
• University Hospital (Augusta, Ga.)
• Alpha Source
• The University of Mississippi Medical Center
• Orlando Regional
• Waldo County General Hospital (Maine)

“GHX believes that expanded use of industry standards will enable greater visibility and collaboration in the healthcare supply chain,” said MJ Wylie, director, Global DataStandardization. “That, in turn, will help build trust among stakeholders, improve efficiencies and lead to better quality patient care and improved financial performance.”

 

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