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By Rocío Mellas

Improving patient safety is a challenge for everyone. In fact this was the slogan for the 23rd Global GS1 Conference, which was held between the 23rd and 25th of April at the Marriott Plaza Hotel. The key issues addressed included: trends and developments in the use of standards, traceability, data exchange medical devices and patient safety. 

The event, organized by the GS1 Global Office in collaboration with GS1 Argentina, gathered together national and international figures from the healthcare sector; including manufacturers, importers, distributors, drug manufacturers, pharmacies, care centers, schools, associations, universities and official regulatory agencies.

“When GS1 Global holds this type of event in the world it is to inform the sector of what can be done,” said Mario Abitol, Healthcare Leader at GS1 Argentina. And he went to explain why Buenos Aires was the host for this event: “Argentina is one of the Latin American countries that has grown the most in terms of medication monitoring; implementation of traceability has occurred more rapidly and this was why the country was selected as the venue for the Global Conference.”

By Bernie Monegain, Editor, Healthcare IT News

As a Bostonian and an emergency physician, Jonathan Teich's first instinct when the explosions shook the Boston Marathon on April 15 ordinarily would have been to rush to Brigham & Women’s Hospital to help treat the victims, many of whom had life-threatening injuries.

But this Patriot’s Day, it was different. Teich’s son and brother-in-law were both running the marathon. His brother-in-law crossed the finish line at the time of the second explosion – unhurt. Teich’s son, just a couple of miles back, was among the runners diverted off course. So an anxious Teich waited for that first text message saying he was OK. It would be two hours, though, before father and son were reunited.

Once he had seen for himself his boy was all right, Teich called Brigham & Women’s emergency department, where he is on duty most Friday nights, to see what he could do to help. By then the hospital was adequately staffed.  

For this edition, the multinational is focusing on a comprehensive vision based on cooperation, presenting a healthcare model that is fully coordinated through ICTs. The CSC Healthcare Group will coordinate the main area of the themed exhibition in which, together with other noted companies in the sector, it will recreate a live integrated ICT solutions circuit that covers the entire patient care range in a showroom format.

Visitors to the showroom will be taken on a tour of the primary and specialized care systems, with a special focus on chronic patients, the support of departmental administration and decision making at management level to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of healthcare organizations in order to achieve a better quality of care for the patient.  

Working in partnership with CSC on the project are companies such as Auren Consultores, Cisco, ClinicAll, Dräger, General Electric, InterSystems, IZASA, Microsoft, Modulab, Neuroathome, Nuance, Polycom, QlikView, Rein Medical and Vademecum, with the support of the Spanish Society for Health IT, IHE Spain and HL7 Spain.

You can follow the preparations for the event at @CSCSanidad and through the hashtags #sanidadcoordinada and #INFORSALUD13 

Medical devices, assistive devices, and eHealth solutions have the potential to improve lives. However, too many people worldwide suffer because they don’t have access to the appropriate health technologies. This call highlights the importance of these innovative technologies towards improved health outcomes and the quality of life.

WHO aims to raise awareness of the pressing need for appropriate design solutions. The Compendium series was initiated to encourage a dialogue between stakeholders and stimulate further development and technology dissemination. 

The annual publication serves as a neutral platform to introduce health technologies that have the potential to improve health outcomes or to offer a solution to an unmet medical and healthcare need. The Compendium series specifically focuses on showcasing innovative medical devices, assistive devices, and eHealth solutions that are not yet widely available in under-resourced regions. It is designed to help developing countries to become aware of appropriate health technologies in support of their environment.

Please note that –due to the Easter holiday– the Call for medical devices will still be open until April 7TH.

By Aline Leal, Agência Brasil

Ratified four years ago, the law that implemented a medication tracking system isn’t being applied in practice. Law 11.903, from January 14th 2009 states that the National Agency for Health Vigilance (ANVISA) should implement the Federal System of Control of Medications (SNCM) so that all medications produced in Brazil can be tracked from the moment they leave the factory until they reach consumers. After the law was ratified, a period of three years was agreed for full implementation of the system.  

According to the law, all medication packaging should have an exclusive identification label with an individual number for each product. The identification number would thus make it possible to track production, sale, distribution and medical, dental and veterinary prescription. The objective is to avoid tax evasion, forgery and the theft of shipments.

According to the Association of Research in the Pharmaceutical Industry (Interfarma), no progress has been made on the issue. The body notes that the tracking of medications would be a ‘death sentence’ for tax evasion, forgery, theft and the other fraud committed in the area. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that almost 30% of medications used in countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa are forged.