Describing it as ground-breaking research, the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA) says the blueprint offers a vision for tracking and tracing prescription medicines from the beginning to the end of the healthcare supply chain. It outlines the technologies and steps that can enable companies to share and manage item-level product data.
The Blueprint, developed by Forrester Research Inc., recommends a phased approach to data management.
In level one, companies that adopt the Blueprint can share data point-to-point while building a foundation to extend data sharing capabilities.
Level two companies can share product shipment and location data on-demand using analytics software to further enhance supply chain efficiency.
And, at level three, companies will use a global registry to share shipment, location and order pattern data. At this level, companies will have a broader view of supply chain activity. Trading partners will be able to work together to enhance monitoring of potentially suspicious events that may be an early warning sign of counterfeiting, diversion, theft or other criminal activities.
All three levels of deployment are based on third-party standards.
