Just in case you’re not up to speed yet on the GLN Registry, this post provides a brief Who, What, Where, When and Why background excerpted from a GS1 US document. For starters, the GLN Registry is an electronic catalog of data for all healthcare facilities and healthcare-related facilities in the United States. It provides a central, standardized location identification standard for healthcare providers and healthcare-related entities.

How does it work? Each location of a healthcare facility, explains GS1 US, is assigned a unique 13-digit number called a Global Location Number or GLN. The GLN provides a globally unique standardized location identification number for providers, manufacturers, and distributors (emphasis added). The GLN can identify a functional entity, such as a nursing station; a physical entity, such as a warehouse or hospital wing; or a legal entity or trading partners, such as a specific company or supplier.

Examples of healthcare locations that can be identified by a GLN include: Hospitals, Surgical Centers, Clinics, Warehouses, Sales Offices, Corporate Headquarters, Distribution centers, P.O. Box Addresses, Dock Doors, and Regional Offices.

The Registry also keeps track of the name, address, class of trade, and organization hierarchy information.

Subscribers to the Registry, which include hospitals, manufacturers and distributors, are able to access an updated and accurate list of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, hospitals, clinics and retail/mail-order pharmacies, ensuring accuracy of their supply chain activities.