In this episode of SCAN/STORIES, discover how Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi became the first healthcare provider in the United Arab Emirates to implement GS1 standards at scale, transforming patient safety, supply chain visibility and product traceability through the power of a simple scan.

Like many healthcare organisations, the hospital faced challenges with fragmented product data, inconsistent supplier labelling and limited visibility across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and operating room consumables. These gaps created operational inefficiencies, scanning failures and risks to patient safety, while making it difficult to accurately track products throughout their journey across the hospital.

To address these challenges, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi launched a comprehensive transformation programme built on GS1 standards. Working closely with suppliers, clinicians, pharmacists and supply chain teams, the hospital standardised product identification using GS1 Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) and integrated GS1 barcodes across pharmacy, inventory, operating room and clinical workflows.

The impact was significant. Scanning compliance increased from less than 50% to 95%, creating a dramatic improvement in traceability and visibility across the organisation. Barcode verification at receiving, dispensing and administration points strengthened medication safety, while automated identification reduced manual processes and improved the accuracy of operating room charge capture.

The results extended beyond operational efficiency. The hospital enhanced patient safety through more reliable product identification, strengthened compliance with pharmaceutical regulations and created a more connected, data-driven healthcare environment where information could be shared and trusted across departments.

This episode explores how global standards can help healthcare organisations move from fragmented processes to full traceability, demonstrating how trusted data, interoperability and collaboration can improve safety, efficiency and confidence across the entire continuum of care.

In this episode of SCAN/STORIES, discover how Nigeria successfully traced and recalled an entire vaccine batch in less than one hour, demonstrating the power of healthcare traceability when every product can be identified and tracked with certainty.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian health authorities faced a critical challenge. A vaccine batch was identified as compromised after distribution across a nationwide network of healthcare facilities. The task was clear but complex: locate every affected dose quickly, coordinate action across multiple stakeholders, and prevent any risk to patients.

Using its national Traceability Information System, built on GS1 standards, Nigeria was able to identify exactly where every dose had been distributed. Each vaccine was marked with a GS1 DataMatrix barcode, providing the visibility needed to trace products across the supply chain in real time.

Within less than one hour, authorities had identified all affected distribution points and activated communication across the network. Once the recall was confirmed, healthcare facilities were able to act immediately, ensuring vaccines were safely retrieved and removed from circulation.

The result was remarkable: 100% of the affected vaccine doses were successfully traced and recalled. But the impact extended beyond a single incident. The system demonstrated how trusted data, interoperability and collaboration can enable faster, more coordinated responses to public health challenges.

This episode explores how GS1 standards help healthcare organisations and national authorities build resilient, connected supply chains, ensuring that critical decisions can be made quickly, accurately and with confidence when it matters most.

In this episode of SCAN/STORIES, discover how a hospital in Japan transformed patient safety in one of healthcare's most complex treatment environments through the power of barcode scanning and GS1 standards.

Dialysis requires hundreds of critical checks every day. Patients, medications, medical devices and healthcare professionals must all be correctly matched throughout every treatment session. In busy clinical settings, even small errors can have serious consequences.

At Shinseikai Daiichi Hospital, the challenge was not simply adding more checks. It was creating a system where verification happens automatically, accurately and consistently. By implementing GS1 barcodes on medications and dialysers, combined with bedside scanning, the hospital established a real-time verification process that confirms the right patient, the right treatment and the right product at the point of care.

Every scan connects trusted information across people, products and systems, helping healthcare professionals work with greater confidence while reducing reliance on manual checks and memory.

The results have been remarkable. The hospital reduced incidents and errors by more than 90%, while improving workflow efficiency, team coordination and visibility across the care process.

This episode explores how trusted data, interoperability and collaboration, enabled by GS1 standards, are helping healthcare organisations build safer systems where patient safety is embedded into every step of care.