A modern hospital moves an astonishing volume of physical goods — implants, instruments, dressings, reagents, pharmaceuticals — through a chain that touches manufacturers, distributors, receiving docks, storerooms, and patient bedsides. Whether that chain is legible or chaotic comes down to one question: does everyone identify the same things the same way? GS1 standards are the most widely used answer, and three identifiers do most of the work.
GTIN: identifying the product
The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) uniquely identifies a product — a specific make, model, and packaging level of an item. When a manufacturer assigns a GTIN and every downstream party references it, an order, a shipment, and a receipt all point to the same thing without translation. Notably, the GTIN is also one of the device identifiers the FDA accepts for UDI, which is how a single barcode can serve both supply and device-safety purposes.
GLN: identifying the location
The Global Location Number (GLN) uniquely identifies a location or entity — a particular receiving dock, a specific nursing unit, a legal entity that places orders. Locations sound trivial until you try to route a shipment or reconcile what was delivered where. A consistent GLN scheme is what lets “deliver to the cath lab storeroom” mean exactly one place to every system involved.
SSCC: identifying the shipment
The Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) uniquely identifies a logistics unit — a pallet or carton in transit. Scanning an SSCC lets a receiver confirm an entire shipment unit at once and tie it back to the order, rather than reconciling item by item.
Why unambiguous identity is the whole game
Each identifier is, on its own, just a number. Their power is collective and depends on universal use: when manufacturers, distributors, and hospitals all reference the same GTINs for products, GLNs for locations, and SSCCs for shipments, data flows from one party to the next without re-keying or mapping. Re-keying is where errors, delays, and reconciliation labor come from; shared identifiers eliminate the need for it.
The capture reality
As with UDI, the standards are mature; the gap is point-of-use capture. The value materializes only when scans actually happen and the captured identifiers reach the systems that need them — inventory, the EHR for device-bearing items, and traceability records. That is an operational and workflow challenge as much as a technical one.
The convener’s framing
Supply-chain interoperability is where logistics and clinical care meet, and it benefits from the same neutral, standards-literate facilitation as the rest of health IT. AzHeC’s Standards work area covers GS1 in plain language, and our Connected Devices coverage addresses where supply identity and clinical data intersect.