Healthcare
Harnessing the power of standards to enhance patient safety and traceability worldwide.
Globally, GS1 standards in healthcare are enhancing patient safety and clinical outcomes while streamlining operational and supply chain efficiencies - providing improved visibility and traceability at every level.
GS1 Healthcare celebrates two decades of advancing healthcare digitalisation
Twenty years ago, GS1 brought its globally trusted barcode technology into the healthcare sector—marking a turning point in how medical products are tracked, identified, and administered. Originally developed for retail, the barcode has since become a quiet but vital force in modern healthcare, improving safety, transparency, and efficiency in systems around the world.
Read moreSafe, efficient care starts with a simple scan.
Patient safety is paramount in healthcare. GS1 standards help to identify and authenticate pharmaceuticals and medical devices, track and trace products from manufacture to the point of care - ultimately keeping patients safe and improving overall efficiencies throughout the care chain.
GS1 standards in hospitals
GS1 NZ works closely with the local and global healthcare community to develop and support the use and implementation of our standards to provide globally unique identification (of items and locations):
National Product Catalogue
High quality, accurate and up-to-date product information is very important for efficient procurement, purchasing and supply chain processes. Being able to share accurate information between suppliers and buyers such as Health New Zealand and Southern Cross Healthcare, using a single source, streamlines the processes.
GS1's National Product Catalogue (NPC) is used in New Zealand healthcare for sharing product information between medical device, pharmaceutical and consumable suppliers and public and private hospitals.
The NPC is a key part of Health New Zealand's Health System Catalogue.
Find out moreMeeting global traceability requirements
As regulations around the world increasingly require end-to-end traceability of healthcare products, a single global standard is essential. GS1 provides that common framework — enabling every product to be uniquely identified and tracked from the point of manufacture through to patient treatment.
Today, regulators in more than 65 countries recognise GS1 standards as the foundation for improved patient safety and operational efficiency in hospitals and healthcare systems.
View global regulatory requirementsAre you ready for UDI?
Unique Device Identification (UDI) establishes a single, global system for medical devices. With UDI, medical devices must be marked with a Unique Device Identifier that appears on the label and package of a device. The GS1 system of standards provides a global framework to identify, capture and share healthcare product information.
GS1 is a UDI Issuing Agency for the US, EU, Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey meaning that manufacturers supplying regulated medical devices to these markets can use GS1 standards to implement UDI requirements.
See GS1 standards in action
Watch how healthcare organisations around the world are using GS1 standards to drive efficiency and improve patient outcomes.
GS1 standards helping NHS save time, money and most importantly save lives
Delivering the best clinical outcomes
Global Location Numbers - ensuring shipments are at the right place at the right time
Healthcare reference books
View on gs1.org
Health System Catalogue updates
Stay up to date with the latest changes to Health New Zealand's Health System Catalogue (HSC), including data quality improvements, supplier onboarding milestones, and system enhancements.
View latest updatesTalk to GS1 about the healthcare sector today
Learn how GS1 standards can improve patient safety, streamline your supply chain, and meet regulatory requirements.