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).
Position Statement
HDMA Guidelines for Healthcare Automated Identification
General Information
Committees and Taskforce Responsibility
Logistics Operations
Committee
Resources
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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.
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Medication Errors and Patient
Safety: the Bar Code Connection - Released March 2004
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.
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2007-2008 HDMA Factbook
Order the 2007-2008 HDMA Factbook for analyses, trends and easy-to-use demographic and benchmarking data on supply chain utilization of current and emerging track-and-trace technologies, including barcodes. The Factbook includes information on bar coded product packaging, distributor barcoding practices, bar code symbologies and information provided by manufacturers in bar codes.
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purchase this publication visit the HDMA Marketplace |
Contacts
John Howells
Senior Director, Industry Relations
703-885-0277
jhowells@hdmanet.org
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