Healthcare Supply Chain Making Progress on EPCIS Implementation for DSCSA

Updated survey data recently released by the Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) Research Foundation suggest that healthcare supply chain partners remain in the early stages of creating the interoperable transaction data connections necessary to comply with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) by Nov. 27, 2023. However, some progress has been made since a previous survey conducted last spring.

The foundation’s latest EPCIS Implementation Benchmarking Survey assesses industry progress of adopting GS1 Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) and trading partner plans for sending data. EPCIS is an international standard that allows supply chain partners to share DSCSA-required data in a secure, electronic, and interoperable manner.

The survey reflects data collected in Q4 of 2021, with responses across pharma supply chain stakeholders, including 40 manufacturers, 16 distributors and four third-party logistics (3PL) providers. Among the updates from the last survey:

• Approximately 69 percent of manufacturers now plan to use a third party to connect—a seven-percentage-point increase from the previous survey.
• More distributors are connected to manufacturers in production environments. Just 38 percent have yet to connect (a decrease from 58 percent in the previous survey), while more than two-thirds are in the process of connecting.
• A typical 3PL is working to connect 81 manufacturers. With an average of four successful connections today, 3PLs plan to have connections with 104 distributors once fully implemented.

The HDA Research Foundation’s EPCIS Implementation Benchmarking Survey is available as a complimentary download on its website.