This is scary: writers with real readerships are beginning to focus seriously on GS1, GS1 labeling, healthcare and global standards. After years and years of quietly getting to this point without much fanfare, can GS1′s status as an overnight sensation be far behind? In this feature piece, iHealthBeat editor George Lauer presents a tremendous overview under the headline, “Healthcare Supply Chain Coalition Hits Milestone.” It’s about the news, as mentioned here last week, that the Healthcare Supply Chain Standards Coalition, a collaborative of 30 organizations, is combining its efforts with GS1 Healthcare US.  But this feature is filled with impressive facts and figures and direct quotes from experts which, in the aggregate seem to validate that the health care industry has a long way to go to attain global standardization but that GS1 is becoming the clear and obvious choice as the standards bearer.

I avidly recommend this feature. To whet your appetite for it, here’s an excerpt from the opening:

The word of the decade in health IT is interoperability. It conjures up images of nurses and doctors using compatible digital languages and technological syntax in diverse systems and organizations all over the country.

The image shouldn’t stop there. It should include the people who manufacture and order the materials used in health care — everything from bandages and bedpans to implants and X-ray machines. And it shouldn’t stop at the border. Supply chain interoperability is an international effort.

While the quest for interoperability marches on in legislatures, board rooms, hospitals and doctors’ offices, a parallel march is taking place in shipping and receiving.