This news comes from Healthcare Purchasing News:  VHA Inc. and 13 of its largest health system members have sent a letter to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration requesting prompt issuance of Unique Device Identification (UDI) regulations, and that those regulations include  GS1 supply chain standards. At this link, you can see the full release direct from VHA.  

VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, describes itself as  a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance, and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. Formed in 1977, VHA serves more than 1,400 hospitals and more than 23,000 non-acute care providers nationwide.

Supply chain executives at 13 VHA member healthcare systems signed the FDA letter:. These included Allina Hospitals & Clinics, Minneapolis; Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corporation, Memphis; BJC HealthCare, St. Louis; Cedars-Sinai Health System, Los Angeles; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Houston; Novant Health, Winston-Salem, NC; OhioHealth, Columbus, OH; Premier Health Partners, Dayton, OH; Providence Health & Services, Renton, WA; Sentara Healthcare, Norfolk, VA; Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, MI; Yale-New Haven Health Services Corp., New Haven, CT.

According to the release, these 13 systems represent $72.2 billion in total annual patient revenue, 7,033,000 annual inpatient days, 1,487,000 annual patient discharges, more than $7 billion in non-salary expenses, and 151 owned and operated hospitals with 28,358 beds.

The last paragraph of the text summarizes the VHA’s position: “We strongly believe that GS1 Supply Chain standards be embedded in any UDI regulations, as they provide a global solution and would be useful in identifying both health care products and non-health care products, are recognized by other industries and can help drive down costs based on current inefficiencies in the supply chain, said Jim Francis, chairman of supply chain management, Mayo Clinic, speaking for the 13 health systems working with VHA to push for GS1 standards in health care. There is a clear advantage in using the GS1 standards and recommends that the FDA allow only GS1 standards as the single mandatory solution for Unique Device Identification.”