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The Healthcare Distribution Management Association is a North American organisation grouping the full-line wholesaler. The organisation's focus is to "secure a safe, efficient and reliable healthcare distribution system that is able to provide life-saving health products and services." 2006 HDMA publish Guidelines for the Bar Coding in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain. This Guideline recognise the GS1 system as being the most efficient solution to achieve security and efficiency in the healthcare supply chain.
Description : "HDMA is pleased to release new Guidelines for Bar Coding in the Pharmaceutical Products Supply Chain, an e-publication providing specifications for bar coding and labeling healthcare products. The Guidelines reflect industry changes, including new technology developments and new FDA bar code regulations, which require standardized information to be incorporated in a linear bar code on virtually every prescription pharmaceutical and biological product label.
Specifically, HDMA's Guidelines for Bar Coding in the Pharmaceutical Products Supply Chain discusses the use of the National Drug Code on bar code labels, bar coding strategies at various packaging levels (i.e. case, pack, unit, etc.), use of symbologies and human-readable text in bar codes, case marking and labeling strategies, bar code quality standards and scanner/data hardware requirements.
In following the specifications included in the Guidelines, drug manufacturers and labelers will help realize additional efficiencies in distribution by standardizing the data presented on pharmaceutical bar codes. The use of highly reliable bar codes ensures greater product visibility in the channel, error reductions, automated data capture throughout the supply chain and improved patient care."
This very important brochure can be ordered from HDMA's webshop. (300$ for non-HDMA members).
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