Category Archives: UDI

GS1, UDI

Meet The Latest GS1 Key: The Global Model Number (GMN)

GS1 makes modifications and additions to their General Specifications every year—sometimes even twice a year.  The latest is version 19 and was published in January 2019.  The “GenSpecs” contain the full detailed definitions of every GS1 “key” and every GS1 barcode.  While it doesn’t contain the definitions of every GS1 standard, it is the catch-all specification for their traditional core—mostly barcode related—standards.  This is where GS1’s keys are defined, included the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN, Application Identifier, or AI = 01), Global Location Number (GLN), Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC, AI = 00), Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI, AI = 8003) and all the others.  Last year (GenSpecs version 18) GS1 introduced their latest key, the Global Model Number (GMN, AI = 8013).  It’s an important addition, particularly for healthcare.  Let me explain.

Continue reading Meet The Latest GS1 Key: The Global Model Number (GMN) →
UDI

Sponsored: Unique Device Identification Questions Answered Here

If you have anything to do with Unique Device Identification (UDI) in your company and you’ve never been to one of the UDI Conferences put on by the Clarion Group, then you don’t know what you are missing. Those who have been to one know that these are the best possible events to attend for UDI.

Why? Easy. I’ve never been to a conference where the experts from the regulatory body itself—the FDA in this case—dominate the speaker list as they do here. If you have Continue reading Sponsored: Unique Device Identification Questions Answered Here →

UDI

European Medical Device and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device Regulations Conference

Author Karen Fleshman

Once again I’ve asked Karen Fleshman, co-founder and COO of Haskins Advisory Group, to step in and cover the recent EU MDR and IVDR Conference that focused on Unique Device Identification (UDI).  I’ll return after the holidays with more coverage of pharma serialization.  Thanks Karen! –Dirk.

On December 4 – 6, 2017, the European Medical Device (MDR) and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device (IVDR) Regulations Conference was held in Orlando, FL. The conference was designed to educate, support, and assist US based medical device manufacturers in gaining critical insight on the requirements of the European Union (EU)’s Unique Device Identification (UDI) compliance program. Continue reading European Medical Device and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device Regulations Conference →

UDI

Sponsored: RxTrace to Sponsor the 2017 UDI Conference – June 7 & 8 in Baltimore, MD!

One of my favorite conferences each year is the annual Unique Device Identification (UDI) Conference put on by the Clarion Group on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  I am happy to sponsor the event each year, and I try to attend when I can.  

As an educational authority on UDI, the 9th annual UDI Conference will Continue reading Sponsored: RxTrace to Sponsor the 2017 UDI Conference – June 7 & 8 in Baltimore, MD! →

DSCSA, FDA, UDI

Sponsored: The Many Faces Of The FDA

MultiFacesWhy is there such a wide gap between the actions of the UDI face of the FDA and the DSCSA face?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency of the U.S. government that falls under the Department of Health and Human Services, which is under the leadership of the current Presidential Administration through a cabinet seat.  But it is also a concept, and the concept has been conceived, modified, adjusted, influenced and expanded—especially expanded—by many thousands of members of Congress that have served from 1906 to 2016.  It started as a nearly powerless monitoring agency in 1906 with the passage of the Federal Food and Drugs Act.  But in the aftermath of a number of widely-reported incidents of harm and deaths caused by cosmetics and medicines, the Congress passed the original Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FD&C) in 1938 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law.

Right from the beginning you had an agency with at least three faces:  foods, drugs and cosmetics.  Continue reading Sponsored: The Many Faces Of The FDA →

FDA Guidance, UDI

FDA Considering A Delay Of A Small Part Of The UDI Rule

1622-468x60_AprilFor the second time this week, the FDA posted something related to the things I pay the most attention to.  Earlier this week it was about the DSCSA.  This time it was a draft guidance for comment on a proposed delay in enforcement of a small part of the Unique Device Identification (UDI) final rule.  I’ve seen a lot of mentions around the internet about this new FDA posting but none of them really explain it very well (including the FDA).  I’d like to take a stab.

Way back in around 1970 the FDA created a numbering system for drugs and one for devices.  The one for drugs Continue reading FDA Considering A Delay Of A Small Part Of The UDI Rule →

UDI

Sponsored: The Best Source Of UDI Guidance

1573-125x125_June_aniEach year on September 24 the FDA Unique Device Identification (UDI) final rule applies to another set of medical devices in the United States.  That is the anniversary of the publication of the UDI final rule in 2013 (see “InBrief: FDA Publishes Final UDI Rule”).  This year on that date, the set of devices that must comply with the rule includes implantable, life-supporting and life-sustaining devices for the first time.  Manufacturers of those devices should be in the process of making the changes necessary to comply.  And so, it is time again for the best source of Continue reading Sponsored: The Best Source Of UDI Guidance →
UDI

Everything You Need To Know About UDI In One Neat Package

UDI Conference 2014 bannerManufacturers of class III medical devices are (hopefully) breathing a sigh of relief today after the recent scurry of activity leading up to yesterday’s deadline for meeting the FDA’s Unique Device Identifier (UDI) regulation.  Now they can relax, right?  Well, odds are, most of them also make class II devices, and maybe even some that are “life supporting and/or life sustaining” devices as well, which means the march toward the next UDI deadlines has to start all over again.

Fortunately, the experience gained by those who faced this first deadline can help guide those who need to meet the next one(s).  Device distributors and hospitals will Continue reading Everything You Need To Know About UDI In One Neat Package →