How often has the food industry been impacted by the news of an infectious disease in their packaged goods? Usually, the entire healthcare industry is blamed for such events. Without accurately tracing the product, all producers and manufacturers bear the brunt of a faulty product that may have caused by a few from their industry. Having traceable products is an imperative action that is slowly gaining momentum amongst pharmaceutical companies. Undoubtedly, the leaders in the industry have ensured that traceability increases,to complement their standards related to drug safety, counterfeited drugs and privacy.
So, how does one achieve traceability in healthcare that will accurately lead by to the food producer or manufacturer? Technological inputs or upgrades will certainly enable healthcare giants to achieve some amount of leverage in this front. We discuss the innovations in technology to propel businesses in the healthcare industry with the inclusion of traceable technology.
Reducing the Complexity with Optimal Traceable Technology
Let’s understand what traceability means before we begin discussing its impact on the industry. Traceable technology involves managing identities and tracking entities. From serialization of products in the supply chains to the identities of actors, care providers, patients, locations and the current processes can be humongous effort. Here’s a look at what traceability means for any business in the healthcare industry:
After the recurrent fatalities due to counterfeit drugs and drug safety issues, the Food Safety Modernization Act ensured that traceability remained an important component for healthcare companies. Maintaining the aspect of traceability within the supply chain, and ensuring that the end consumer remains safe and secure are the mandatory aspects of the Act.
What do companies, who do not have appropriate systems, do to conduct traceability for their products? Ideally, a regular traceability process should look like the following:
Recent developments in technology have been undertaken at a grand level. RFID or Radio-Frequency Identification in Tracking is commonly used in tracking devices using radio waves as a technology for detecting tags and read data from those tags. Companies can upgrade their systems to advanced technologies such as the GS1 system of standards for global traceability in healthcare. With the convenience of the GS1 numbering, it’s easy to locate devices and ensure the required standard parameters for actual communication throughout the supply chain.
To know more about the topic please refer the whitepaper written by experts at HCLTechnologies
