UDI Expert Workshop #2: Identifying Steps for Implementation and Integration of UDI within Electronic Data Infrastructure of Care Delivery Sites

On Thursday, December 13, 2012, the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution convened a diverse group of providers, vendors, medical device manufacturers, academic researchers, and other relevant stakeholders with important roles throughout the medical device lifecycle to discuss workable strategies for meaningfully integrating unique device identifiers (UDIs) into and across administrative and clinical data systems within health care delivery sites.

At the initial UDI Implementation Work Group meeting, stakeholders emphasized the importance of integrating UDI into the electronic data infrastructure at health care delivery sites to enable an array of benefits, including streamlining the supply chain, providing access to device information to inform provider decision-making, and creating enhanced mechanisms for device safety surveillance and effectiveness evaluation. Despite these potential benefits, achieving this goal is not trivial and will require broad stakeholder input and focus. This workshop provided an opportunity for stakeholders to consider what incentives could be used to drive incorporation of UDI into administrative and clinical data systems within health care delivery sites, potential obstacles that will need to be anticipated, and paths forward for integrating UDI recording into and across these systems without disrupting workflow.