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Successful conference in Taiwan

By Nicolas Liou on 20 January 2010
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In 2010, the National Bureau of Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health (DOH), R.O.C.(Taiwan) will be officially in operation and this will definitely lead to a new era for Healthcare in Taiwan. With the great support of the Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs, DOH in Taiwan, GS1 Taiwan hosted the “2009 Conference on Healthcare Management Tomorrow” in Taipei, Taiwan on 14 December 2009.

The key to patient safety and management efficiency
This conference established the important role of GS1 Taiwan in the consolidation and promotion of global standards in the healthcare supply chain in Taiwan. Two international speakers and ten local speakers addressed “the key to patient safety and management efficiency”, including important regulatory and industry developments in Taiwan on healthcare supply chain management, drug inventory & logistics management through barcode-based IT solutions, Barcode medication administration system (BCMA), Barcode-enabled point-of-care(BPOC), electronic health record, and RFID related applications.

The welcome address by Dr. Hui Lin, CEO, GS1 Taiwan

Over 500 participants attended this conference. Participants included representatives from the Department of Health, the Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs, the Hospital Authority, public and private hospitals (senior staff from at least 70 local hospitals), academia, industry associations of medical devices, manufacturers, distributors, pharmaceutical suppliers, and solution providers. The conference highlighted the international trends in healthcare management and the advantages of using GS1 Standards, not only to increase the effectiveness and efficiency in their supply chain management but also to improve the quality of healthcare service and patient wellbeing.

Four senior staff speakers from leading hospitals in Taiwan shared their experiences from different pilot projects related to barcode-based management in hospital environments.

GS1 Taiwan would like to sincerely thank:

  • Global office, and especially the attendance of Mr. Nicolas Florin (CEO, GS1 Switzerland), who represented the GO and Global Healthcare Leadership Team at this congress and gave a wonderful keynote speech regarding “Global Standards to improve patient safety”.
  • GS1 Japan and its recommended speaker, Dr. Kiyohito Tanaka (Kyoto Second Red Cross Hospital), who shared his insights and ideas on “Management Analysis for Patient Safety using GS1 Standards”.
  • GS1 US offering video materials with powerful testimonials from US stakeholders
  • Unitech and EMC Taiwan, our sponsors and co-hosts
  • All supporting organisations: Taiwan Association for Medical Informatics, Taiwan Institution of Economics Research, Medical and Pharmaceutical Industry Technology and Development Center, Taiwan Medical Alliance Association, Taipei Pharmaceutical Agents and Distributors Association, Chinese Association for Pharmaceutical Agents, Taiwan Products Quality Research Institute, Taiwan Pharmaceutical Marketing & Management Association, iThome online.

IT solutions to ensure medication safety in Taiwan
Ms. Qian-Wen Hsu, the senior technical specialist from Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs of DOH, indicated in her keynote speech that the existing e-Government strategy will be the basis for future healthcare management in Taiwan. Innovative IT solutions will increase medication safety. Ms. Hsu considered global standards to be critical in this process to allow the Taiwan healthcare industry to upgrade and remain competitive in this global sector.

As of 1 January 2010, the National Bureau of Food and Drug Administration will start operating, integrating the operations of four existing agencies: the Bureau of Food Safety, the Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs, the Bureau of Food and Drug Analysis, and the Bureau of Controlled Drugs. The policy of DRGs (Diagnosis Related Groups) will also become practice in Taiwan at that time.

GS1 Healthcare Taiwan in 2010
The GS1 MO’s in the Asia-Pacific region are currently preparing to form a regional Healthcare User Group. Considering the developments in Taiwan, we will also launch a local user group in 2010 to advocate the importance of global standards in this era of transformation in healthcare.


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