In addition to medical products, St Johannes-Gesellschaft Hospital in Dortmund has now started trading pharmaceuticals electronically through Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX).
GHX says that it now offers an e-trading system that covers both medical devices and pharmaceuticals – the two key product groups at the centre of the healthcare supply chain.
After a technical implementation phase of only one month, the hospital’s Central Pharmacy sent its first orders to Baxter International, one of its major suppliers, on 14 August.
GHX selected St Johannes’ pharmacy department as the pilot for pharmaceutical trading because the hospital was amongst the first to have integrated GHX into its SAP materials management system in February of this year, and because both the pharmacy and supplies department use the same SAP purchasing system.
"In implementing GHX in St.-Johannes-Hospital’s pharmacy, we were able to concentrate on the electronic transactions required for the pharmaceutical supply chain," said Roger Morgan, General Manager of GHX Europe. He added the solution developed for St Johannes in Dortmund can now be rolled out to other hospitals’ SAP systems.
"In the central pharmacy we are looking forward to achieving this same degree of automation which the new technology has brought to medical supplies purchasing whilst improving the relationship with our suppliers," said Ulrich Sommer, Director of the Central Pharmacy at the hospital
Global Healthcare Exchange BVBA is an electronic trading exchange through which hospitals can purchase both medical and non-medical products. Founded in March 2000 and its global membership now includes hundreds of supplier and hospital members
In the UK the GHX electronic trading system is being used for medical suppliers by Leeds University Hospitals NHS Trust and Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust.