| Bar codes are used in the pharmaceutical industry to identify product
throughout the supply chain. Different levels of information can be
carried in a barcode, including such items as National Drug Code (NDC),
Lot Number, and Expiration Date. There are several different types
of bar codes, and the standards for what those bar codes look like and
how they are to be used are housed with both the Uniform Code Council
(UCC) and the Health Industry Business Communications Council (HIBCC).
General Information
Committees and Taskforce Responsibility
Logistics Operations
Committee
Resources
HDMA Guidelines for Bar Coding in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
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HDMA’s Guidelines for Bar Coding in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain is an electronic publication providing specifications for bar coding and labeling healthcare products. With the continuing pressure to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient safety, these guidelines explore the perpetual need to increase efficiency along the pharmaceutical supply chain, specifically through the identification and refinement of proven technologies. Developed by the HDMA Bar Code Task Force, this revision of the formerly titled HDMA Guidelines for Bar Coding in the Pharmaceutical Products Supply Chain reflects recent changes to industry terminology, and includes updated and expanded content. This latest edition identifies changes made to the shipping container label bar code formats and to the serialization process, as well as recommendations made by the HDMA Bar Code Task Force for the industry moving forward. |
Medication Errors and Patient Safety: the Bar Code Connection - Released March 2004
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A second phase of the bar code initiative, is being made possible by a grant from Ortho Biotech Products, L.P, Centocor, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceutica Products, L.P., McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc., and Scios, Inc. It features a prioritized Rx product target list for bar coding to improve medication errors and patient safety. The project assesses current drug utilization rates, reviews the nature of current reported errors, and investigates which products are generally available in unit dose and unit of use packaging. As in the earlier bar code survey report, results will be useful to all constituents in the distribution system since improving medication errors will be an industry-wide effort. |
2011-2012 HDMA Factbook
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Now in its 83rd edition, the 2011–2012 HDMA Factbook is the healthcare distribution industry’s most comprehensive and reliable source of industry performance data. This easy-to-use reference guide features more than 150 robust data tables based on original survey data as well as secondary sources from leading industry healthcare industry organizations.
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Contact
John Howells
Senior Director, Industry Relations
703-885-0277
jhowells@hdmanet.org
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denotes HDMA members-only content.