Experience overseas indicates that supply chain technology can be useful in the health-care industry. This is especially true in terms of tracking systems and validation processes. These new technologies can also help prevent medical errors while cutting costs and improving operating efficiency.
An example of how the technology can be used to the benefit of both professionals and the public is the Central Drug Repository (CDR), a central online database for drugs whose infrastructure was completed in August by GS1 Hong Kong. The CDR is a central online database that will provide key data about drugs on the market in the territory. It will allow manufacturers, distributors and others to align data sets for their individual products.
Under the programme, pharmacies can download information on drugs from the CDR into their own internal databases, allowing them to improve their business operations while increasing transparency in terms of pharmaceutical sales.
Using the database, pharmacists can verify the authenticity of drugs for their customers, allowing them to improve the quality, accuracy and efficiency of the dispensing process. Patients will also be able to access the CDR via the internet if they need more information.
But there can be other potential uses for the technology in the health-care profession. A key example is asset and inventory management at hospitals and clinics. Asset management refers to durable objects with longer serviceable lifespans. Inventory management concerns things that have a more limited shelf life.
'We are considering a pilot project at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin to determine if radio frequency identification can serve our strategic aims of modernising our asset and inventory management systems,' said Raymond Wong, senior executive manager of business support services at the Hong Kong Hospital Authority.
