Survey: Progress Toward Adoption of Critical Data Standards as Sunrise Date Approaches

The Washington, D.C.-based Health Industry Group Purchasing Association’s (HIGPA) Committee on eHealth Standards (CHeS) announced the results of a new independent survey of health care providers, GPOs, device manufacturers, and wholesaler/distributors on industry readiness to integrate global standards into the healthcare supply chain. The survey, conducted by the University of Arkansas Center for Innovation in Healthcare Logistics, keyed off of previous work and supported by the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), found that 68 percent of respondents were moving toward adoption of a global data standards system in the next five years, as opposed to only 35 percent who responded affirmatively to the same question in a 2008 survey.

Key findings of the 2010 GLN adoption survey include:

• Of those respondents moving toward adoption of a data standards system, 90 percent are moving toward GS1 standards;

• Of respondents moving toward adoption of GS1, 76 percent plan to implement Global Location Numbers (GLNs);

• By the end of 2010, 51 percent of organizations adopting a GS1 plan will implement Global Location Numbers (GLNs).

In October, group purchasing organizations announced industry readiness to adopt standards for healthcare provider locations months ahead of schedule. The 2010 survey from HIGPA, the University of Arkansas and AHRMM illustrates that other participants in the healthcare supply chain are now also moving closer to adoption.