Safer Patient Care and Ensured Compliance with a Simple Scan

Increasingly, regulators around the world are recommending or requiring GS1 DataMatrix to identify and trace drugs. In 2022, GS1 HK has issued a guideline on drug product packaging to facilitate essential information exchange between relevant parties (e.g. hospital, pharmaceutical, etc.), and enable the track and trace capability in handling large volume of pharmaceutical products.

Committed to building brands with quality brand owner partners, Mekim Limited, a key distributor and retailer of professional and consumer health care products in Hong Kong, needs to ensure its suppliers’ products adhering to the guideline. Operating 70 stores in Hong Kong and Macau under the banner “MEKA”, the company aims to instill trust across its supply chain stakeholders with added traceability feature.

Mekim has coordinated with a dozens of pharmaceutical suppliers from Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, Spain, Thailand and others to adopt GS1 DataMatrix on packages. Implementation started with a wide list of dangerous drugs and will be extended to other non-dangerous drugs registered and offered by Mekim in the market.

For healthcare items supplied to HA, GS1 DataMatrix is advised to apply on the package of sales packs with at least the following information: Global Trade Item Number (GTIN); batch or lot number; expiration date or best before date. The identification and traceability data allow Mekim to easily identify and quickly track and trace pharmaceutical products from the point of manufacture, distribution to the point of dispensing, which enhance trust and confidence in supply chain processes and systems not only for hospitals, but also for trade partners, retailers and patients, ensuring patient safety.

When Mekim receives medical product shipments, the staff can simply scan the GS1 DataMatrix to verify and register the product details, accelerating the efficiency of stock management and pick-and-pack process for client orders. This applies to its clients too. Such automation helps reduce errors in receiving, eliminate manual entry of lot/expiry in inventory management system, improve data quality and thus increase efficiency.

In the unfortunate event that when issue happens, Mekim can respond and recall swiftly, by accurately and efficiently tracking, tracing, and managing product inventory at all points throughout the supply chain.

GS1 DataMatrix, which is derived from ISO/IEC Data Matrix, is widely used in the healthcare sector around the world, including medical imports to the US and EU. While regulatory bodies drive the implementation of GS1 DataMatrix for the fight against counterfeit healthcare products and for better control of the supply chain, the globally harmonised standard helps strengthen cross-border trade and information flow, essential to Mekim’s expansion to other markets.

GS1 DataMatrix helps Mekim:

Established in 1981, Mekim Limited is a distributor of professional and consumer health care products, and created a retail division under the banner of MEKA in 1995. Core customers include hospitals, clinics, retail channels.