Center for Healthcase Supply Chain Research and SAP Jointly Release White Paper on Data Sharing and Data Management

PharmaManufacturing.com
08/21/2008

Part of an ongoing series of topical white papers, The Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research and SAP Labs, LLC, today jointly released SAP Support of the Healthcare Supply Chain’s Ongoing Effort to Ensure Patient Safety and Drive Business Value. This white paper provides an in-depth summary of how SAP supports the Center’s Blueprint for Data Sharing and Data Management in the healthcare supply chain. The white paper also focuses on short- and long-term business improvement opportunities that may be achieved by companies that leverage serialization and electronic product code information services (EPCIS), the cornerstone of the Center’s Blueprint.

The Center’s Blueprint presents a future vision for tracking and tracing prescription medicines from the beginning to the end of the healthcare supply chain, and outlines the technologies and steps that can enable companies to share and manage item-level product data. The Blueprint recommends a phased approach to data management and data sharing between trading partners. The strategic path forward described in the Blueprint takes into account the variability of technology systems across the supply chain and is designed to accommodate companies with advanced IT capabilities, as well as those that lack the capital for major technology investments. Each level is based on incremental, ongoing investments and can be customized to meet individual company needs.

The white paper explains how the SAP solutions for auto ID and item serialization can be used to support data management and data sharing, as outlined in the Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research’s Blueprint. These solutions can be used to automatically identify, track and trace individual items in the healthcare supply chain using unique serial numbers. The Center’s Blueprint and SAP solutions for auto-ID and item serialization support both RFID-based and barcode-based technologies. The SAP solutions focus on the utilization of EPCIS data to support data management and data sharing in the healthcare supply chain.

“EPCIS provides supply chain partners with features of interoperability, bi-directional communication and data security. It is adaptable to a variety of operating systems, programming languages and database management systems,” said Karen J. Ribler, EVP & COO of the Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research. “The Blueprint is based on EPCIS, the building block for data management and data sharing, and can facilitate the industry's goals of enhanced patient safety, increased supply chain visibility and greater business efficiencies.”

“Data management and data sharing are critical business capabilities for participants collaborating in today’s supply chain to enhance product security, as well as deliver solid business value in numerous supply chain management and healthcare applications,” said Lori Mitchell-Keller, senior vice president, Suite Solution Management, SAP AG. “The Center’s Blueprint and the SAP solutions for auto-ID and item serialization are aligned to deliver this vision.”

The SAP Support of the Healthcare Supply Chain’s Ongoing Effort to Ensure Patient Safety and Drive Business Value white paper is available for download on the Center’s web site at www.HCSupplyChainResearch.org.