Tracking Supplies via SANER

One of the outstanding challenges yet to be demonstrated at a Connectathon is the ability of SANER to report on supplies.

Some common examples include N95 Respirators (a.k.a. Surgical Masks), Ventilator supplies (e.g., tubing, connectors, et cetera), gloves, gowns and cleaning supplies.

How would you track these materials in ways that would enable an inventory system to track them?  

Honestly, this is an area that I've spent very little time with, but is one focus area I plan to study for the upcoming May HL7 Connectathon.

What I already know:

• Just about anything sold as a medical device in the US has an FDA Classification code.
• Many medical devices and packages of them will have a GUDID identifier.
• GUDID relies on UDI specifications.
• GUDID classifies devices via both the FDA Product Classification code and using Global Medical Device Nomenclature (GMDN) codes.
• Class 1 devices can be identified with a UPC code, some have a GUDID identifier.
• Inventory management systems often use GTIN identifiers (of which, UPC is one type)
• The HL7 Structured Product Label (SPL) standard has been adopted by the FDA for both Medication and Medical Devices.
• SPL references vocabulary which can also describe the device.

All of this knowledge is captured, registered, and publicly available.  Some possibly for purchase, some freely accessible, some even with an API.

So, if you have UPC numbers or GMDN codes, or GUDID data, you might actually be able to create a value set that you can get to from the item codes used to describe supplies in the hospital inventory control systems.