Maybe I’m just hyper sensitive to all things blockchain right now, but it sure seemed like the topic of blockchain permeated the sessions and the halls at last week’s GS1 Connect conference, GS1 US’s annual membership event. Oddly, all of the official blockchain content was outside the Healthcare track. The technology is certainly applicable in all industries and apparently there is interest in it outside of the healthcare vertical within GS1 US. But what I observed there leads me to think we are very close to an important tipping point. Continue reading Blockchain Reigns At GS1 Connect 2017
Tag Archives: Bob Celeste
Could Blockchain Technology Be Used For DSCSA Compliance?
If your email inbox is anything like mine it has recently been swamped with articles and webinar notices about the possible use of blockchain technology to solve multiple challenges in healthcare. I recently attended a very interesting day-long workshop on that very topic.
So is blockchain a real solution, or is it just the latest over-hyped buzzword that is being promoted by people who don’t understand the real needs of healthcare companies? I’ll tell you what I think. But first, a little background.
Blockchain technology is a way of encapsulating information within a layer of structured data that multiple parties can use as the basis for trust in the accuracy of the source of that information. It’s all about adding trust to information that is shared between parties. Trust is just one of the many Continue reading Could Blockchain Technology Be Used For DSCSA Compliance?
Thank You Ron Bone!
Well over 18 months ago I learned that Ron Bone was stepping down as SVP of Distribution Support at McKesson. He immediately became a solo consultant and was engaged directly with McKesson again, but this time he filled a part-time role. This was Ron’s way of staying connected with the activities at McKesson related to meeting the federal Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) which was on its journey toward enactment, and it was McKesson’s way of maintaining continuity in those efforts. Win-win.
Ron originally intended to fully retire last July…then December…and now, someday. Does anyone think it will happen this time? Frankly, I hope not. I think Ron is having too much fun, and everyone in the industry who knows him enjoys having Ron engaged as much as he is willing. So take your time Ron. No need to rush.
Like Bob Celeste, who departed GS1 US last month after serving as the lead traceability facilitator and motivator for the U.S. pharma supply chain (see “Thank You Bob Celeste!”), Ron was Continue reading Thank You Ron Bone!
Thank You Bob Celeste!
I would be willing to bet that almost every regular reader of RxTrace knows who Bob Celeste is, and most of you have probably already heard that he is ending his long tenure with GS1 US. Last fall that organization announced that Bob would continue into the new year as a consultant, and shortly after that, he would transition his GS1 Healthcare US work group facilitation work to others. Bob reminded everyone on his weekly industry calls of that schedule about two weeks ago and by the end of this month he will no longer fill that role.
Bob started working for GS1 back when Continue reading Thank You Bob Celeste!
GS1 Healthcare US Publishes Updated Guidance For DSCSA
I happened to be chatting with Bob Celeste of GS1 Healthcare US yesterday at the LogiPharma conference in Princeton, NJ where he was about to speak, when he found out that version 1.1 of their guideline had just been published on their website. The full title of the 137 page document is “IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINE, Applying GS1 Standards to U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Business Processes FOR THE DRUG SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY ACT AND TRACEABILITY R1.1 — SEP 12, 2014”. You can download a free copy from their web page.
I will have more to say about this document in a few weeks when I have time to review it more fully, but this is the long awaited update that brings the earlier version up-to-date with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). The 1.0 version of the guideline, published in March of last year, was Continue reading GS1 Healthcare US Publishes Updated Guidance For DSCSA
