CHeS Applauds Unification of Classification
System of Goods and Services
A step in the right direction toward
building standards that serves hospitals, patient care
Ann Arbor, Mich. (May 12, 2003) – The
Coalition for Healthcare eStandards applauds the selection of
the GS1 US, by the United Nations Development Programme for
managing the newly revised United Nations Standard Products and
Services Code (UNSPSC).
While this code has universal application
to all products and services, this new standard offers critical
value to the healthcare industry. Today, many of the medical
suppliers – especially in the medical/surgical category
– have no unified means of identification for billing,
inventory and supply chain management purposes. Without a
standard means of classifying products, hospitals could lose
out on being able to save their institution significant
dollars. As e-commerce evolves, standards such as the one
established by the UNSPSC will go a long way to reducing the
$11 billion lost in healthcare due to redundant purchasing and
the inefficient distribution of medical supplies.
Having a standard way of identifying and
grouping products offers helps further the healthcare
industry’s progress in e-commerce by offering purchasers
new capabilities such as:
* Doing spend analyses,
standardizing product use and conducting supplier
rationalization
initiatives
* Benchmarking purchasing
patterns against peer and competitor organizations
* Conducting market share
analysis
* Controlling ‘rogue
spending’
* Organizing and finding
items in electronic catalogs
* Simplifying the aggregation
of electronic catalogs by large buying organizations
* Simplifying the publication
of electronic catalogs by suppliers to multiple sales channels
The Coalition for Healthcare eStandards,
Inc. is a group of leading healthcare purchasers, suppliers and
distributors advocating for the adoption of uniform industry
standards for supply chain transactions over the Internet.
Formed in June 2000, members of the Coalition include AmeriNet,
Consorta, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense
Logistics Agency, Global Healthcare Exchange, Neoforma,
Novation and Premier. This group represents nearly 80 percent
of the healthcare providers in the United States. Visit
www.CHeStandards.org for more information about the Coalition.
Reporters’ note: For third-party perspective on the United
Nations’ decision, contact:
Coalition for Healthcare eStandards
Mark McDougall, Executive Director, at
734.677.3300
or
Ken Inchausti, Premier, Inc. at
704.733.5586
