Dr. Oz of Oprah Fame Says Hospitals with Barcode Technology are Safer

If you’re seeking a mistake-free hospitalization experience, it may be less important to pick a hospital based on physician preferences, for example, than on whether or not the hospital embraces barcode technology.

Emerging Markets Strategy to Lift Europe’s Biggest Retailer

Writing for Barron’s this weekend, Sten Stovall, who is a news editor at Dow Jones Newswires in London, outlines steps he expects will be taken by the new CEO  at Carrefour, which is a huge supermarket business based in France and which Mr. Stovall notes is Europe’s largest retailer by sales.

GS1 by 2010 or 2014: An ‘Or Else’ Deadline or Strong Suggestion?

In the March 17th issue of Supply Chain Review from Australia,  an article with the headline, “D-day on new retail barcodes pushed back years“  gives the impression that GS1 is an all-powerful global authority with the sole right of granting leniency to retail laggards slow to adopt the international product marking standard.

GS1 France and Amusement Magazine Bring RFID to Print Media

I really want to like this new idea to save traditional magazines and other print media but, alas, must agree with engadget’s assessment:

GS1 Endorsed by Novation; 2012 Deadline Set

Novation is a leading health care contracting services company based in Texas. The organization works with nearly 2,500 members of VHA Inc. and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), two national health care alliances and nearly 12,000 members of Provista, LLC. These members used

Emerging Markets a Target of World’s Biggest Auto Manufacturer

In a story about the new Tata Nano, being called the world’s cheapest car (priced at about $2,000), I got a lesson

An Emerging Market Index You May Find Useful and Profitable to Follow

I should know by now there’s an investment index for just about everything, but it came as news to me there is an index that follows some 26 emerging market countries. This item out of Istanbul, via Reuters, mentions it:

Emerging Markets Targeted by HP

HP is joining the list of quality companies seeking more promising returns in emerging markets. Today’s news release from HP doesn’t go into a lot of depth, but the opening few sentences makes their strategy very clear:

What’s Your GS1 IQ? Please Take This Brief Survey to Find Out!

You can access the survey through the Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News  site  or go directly to it here.  

GS1 Endorsed by the University of Mississippi Medical Center

If you’re in the health care products business, you’ll want to pay close attention to the schedule of deadlines for GS1 compliance that the University of Mississippi Medical Center announced

Major GS1 Implementation Finally Detailed with Some Specificity

If anyone thinks they can wait to the last minute and simply evolve an old product marking system to the new GS1 global standard, they’ll want to read this fairly detailed examination of a major GS1 implementation reported by Food Magazine in Australia. [By the way, is it just me, or is Australia doing more, and more [...]

GS1 Healthcare US Welcomes 1st States Society/Association Endorsement

GS1 continues to win advocates among those who manage healthcare materials:
The Georgia Society for Healthcare Materials Management (GSHMM), a Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) affiliated society, becomes the first state society or association to publicly announce its endorsement of GS1® supply chain standards.

GS1 US Experts on Hand at Upcoming United Fresh 2009 Convention

The United Fresh Produce Association announced today that a new Produce Traceability Demo Center will be added as a featured attraction on the United Fresh 2009 convention show floor, April 21-24, in Las Vegas.

Not Yet GS1 Barcode Compliant But Still Promising? New Barcode Changes Color, Disables Scan, if Food Goes Bad

Two university researchers and a food safety company have collaborated in the development of a new barcode ink – not yet commercially available — that will change color ‘in the presence of food improperly refrigerated.’ The ink turns red and can’t be scanned.

GS1 New Zealand CEO Reminisces About Barcode’s Early Days

They had a big dinner down under in Auckland the other night to celebrate the 30th anniversary of barcode use in New Zealand.

Barcodes on Aussie Jams and Sauces Reveals All to Consumers

You knew it was only a matter of time. Now it has happened:
From today, in what is believed to be a world-first for a food manufacturer,

GS1 Hong Kong Solves COO Issue for Consumers

This is big breaking news:
GS1 Hong Kong Wednesday announced the launch of a one-stop product and food quality information portal to address recent food safety incidents…

GE Healthcare’s Very Real, Very Aggressive Emerging Market Offering

A few of us here on the blog think emerging markets (and the unique requirements of emerging markets labeling) represent a significant opportunity for companies seeking new sources of revenue while the global economy in mainstream nations falters. But what do we know? However,  if GE Healthcare were talking about it, would that

QR Code Marketing Campaigns Can Now Tie to Google Earth in Real-Time

How cool is this… through a UK-based operation called QRMe,

Could Hair-Raising Mistakes at UK Hospitals Spur GS1 Barcode Adoption?

In this news story by Medical Editor Rebecca Smith, writing for The Telegraph in the UK, you can read about the UK’s adoption of a policy that will withhold reimbursement for