Automatic identification of medicines, supplies and medical devices in hospitals
GS1 standards uniquely identify medicines, medical devices, and even most hospital goods. Hospitals must load some data on a mandatory basis, so information systems are at least partly ready for this. However, automatic identification systems can be used for a much wider range of processes and can fulfill their core functions. Namely, cost reduction, process streamlining, elimination of manual work, error prevention, accurate traceability, and traceability. The presentation will be a cross-section of the use of automatic identification systems in hospitals, with particular attention to improving patient safety through case studies from abroad.
Introducing uniform standards in healthcare is not a fad, but the foundation of interoperable and rapidly deployable solutions. GS1 standards, known from logistics and retail, bring safer care, clarity, and time savings to hospitals. This is a technology proven over decades, used by millions of companies worldwide. Unified identification ensures that systems can communicate – whether internal hospital applications or external supply chains. As a result, implementations can be repeated more simply, faster, and at lower cost, without inventing "own standards" tied to a single vendor. GS1 is a global standard, elements of which are also adopted into ISO standards, and thus it provides reliable uniqueness of identifiers without duplication. Healthcare facilities can therefore make use of identifiers that products already carry encoded in barcodes and DataMatrix codes.Why standards are crucial in hospitals
