Mercy/ROi and BD Collaborate to Improve Quality of Care and Reduce Costs

ST. LOUIS and FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercy/ROi and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) collaborated to achieve the first known instance in the United States where GS1 Standards, including bar codes, were integrated across the medical device supply chain.  GS1 Standards are global standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand chains across multiple sectors. 

A new case study, Perfect Order and Beyond, describes how these standards were implemented in the clinical care setting (from manufacturing plant to patient bedside), driving supply chain optimization and enhancements to patient safety initiatives.  GS1 barcode data on products can eliminate errors and allow healthcare providers and manufacturers to speak the same language with this improved data tracking process.

"This collaboration provides a snapshot of how data standards can serve as a common platform for organizations throughout the healthcare supply chain to raise efficiency, drive unnecessary expenses out of the system and play an important technology role in patient care initiatives, including consistency in the electronic health record," explained Curtis Dudley, Vice President of Integrated Business Solutions, ROi, the healthcare supply chain company founded by Mercy.

ROi and BD established goals to achieve Perfect Order and viewed GS1 Standards as a tool that could be leveraged to improve the existing state of the healthcare supply chain. Perfect Order is an ideal in healthcare that represents true electronic order processing, from order placement to delivery and payment, without human intervention. The organizations achieved Perfect Order by modifying business processes and technical infrastructure. 

"BD is committed to operational effectiveness internally and in the healthcare supply chain to remove unnecessary cost and waste from the system," said Frank Florio, Vice President and General Manager, North America, BD. "GS1 data standards also enable healthcare providers to track products when treating patients, which can help reduce medical errors while improving patient care."

BD and ROi completed their GS1 Standards integration ahead of industry-established sunrise dates for both the GS1 Global Location Number (GLN) and the GS1 Global Trade Item Number® (GTIN®). Both companies continue to operate together using these standards on an ongoing basis.     

The GTIN is used to unambiguously identify products and communicate product data throughout the supply chain and through to the clinical setting and beyond. GLN is a consistent standard to identify delivery locations and to replace custom account numbers.  BD and ROi implemented these standards as part of their ongoing business processes, and in pursuit of Perfect Order discovered many other benefits that extend beyond the supply chain, including:

• More accurate purchase orders, invoicing and payment processes.
• Clean data on delivery locations and account information.
• Real-time product usage and consumption.
• Better product and lot number tracking.
• Improved infrastructure and data accuracy for patient care initiatives.

"As more and more healthcare providers and manufacturers partner to implement GS1 Standards, one notion is resoundingly clear – these critical data standards can be implemented now to achieve benefits in supply chain efficiency and potential contributions to clinical care," said case study co-author Alex Zimmerman, Director of Integrated Business Solutions, ROi.  "We hope the case study will provide a useful primer for those who want to understand the benefits of evolving their business processes and transacting with GS1 Standards at each step of the supply chain."

The case study documents improvements in several supply chain metrics, such as:

1.    30 percent reduction in days payable outstanding.

2.    73 percent reduction in discrepancies on purchase orders.

3.    Improved sourcing of products by use of a barcode to determine the right product and to reorder.

4.    Fewer stock outs due to the inherent simplicity offered to nursing staff for scanning barcodes at the bedside.

The case study can be downloaded at www.gs1us.org/BDMercystudy. 

About Mercy
Mercy is the eighth largest Catholic health care system in the U.S. and serves more than 3 million people annually. Mercy includes 31 hospitals, more than 200 outpatient facilities, 38,000 co-workers and 1,500 integrated physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has outreach ministries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. For more about Mercy, visit www.mercy.net.

About ROi

ROi (Resource Optimization & Innovation) is a recognized leader in health care supply chain management. Founded by Mercy in 2002, ROi provides a single-source, fully integrated supply chain solution, including group contracting, clinical and operational consulting, pharmaceutical repackaging, custom procedure tray manufacturing, print operations, purchasing and master item file management, and distribution and transportation management. ROi collaborates with like-minded health care providers and progressive suppliers to redefine the supply chain and develop solutions to drive greater efficiencies, reduce costs and produce sustainable change. ROi co-workers support health care providers from a home base in St. Louis, Mo., and a 100,000-square-foot Consolidated Services Center (CSC) in Springfield, Mo. For more information, visit www.roiscs.com.

About BD

BD is a leading global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. The Company is dedicated to improving people's health throughout the world. BD is focused on improving drug delivery, enhancing the quality and speed of diagnosing infectious diseases and cancers, and advancing research, discovery and production of new drugs and vaccines. BD's capabilities are instrumental in combating many of the world's most pressing diseases. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, BD employs approximately 29,000 associates in more than 50 countries throughout the world. The Company serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry and the general public. For more information, please visit www.bd.com.

Media Contacts:
Nancy Corbett, (405) 752-3793 (office) or (405) 615-6674 (cell)
Mercy
[email protected]

Kathie Woehrmann, (314) 364-6535 (office) or (314) 974-4304 (cell)
ROi
[email protected]

Jamie Yacco, (201) 847-4796 (office) or (201) 841-8652 (cell)
BD
[email protected]

SOURCE BD-Becton Dickinson