Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research and Axway Jointly Release White Paper on Technologies and Strategies Supporting The Center’s Blueprint for Data Sharing and Data Management

Arlington, VA – March 16, 2009 – The Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research, the 501 (c) (3) research foundation of the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA), and Axway today jointly released Life Sciences Strategies: A Practical Approach to Healthcare Supply Chain Collaboration. As part of an ongoing series of topical white papers, it provides an in-depth summary of how Axway supports the Center’s Blueprint for Data Sharing and Data Management in the healthcare supply chain.

The Life Sciences Strategies white paper using the Center’s IT Blueprint outlines three levels of data sharing: achieving pedigree compliance through a direct-connect model; extending the direct-connect model for on-demand event visibility; and adding proactive supply chain intelligence and adopting network registries.

“Adopting data sharing with trading partners in phases enables each company to work within its specific business framework and goals,” said Karen J. Ribler Executive Vice President & COO of the Center. “This approach promotes inclusion, provides flexibility and meets the distribution industry’s objectives for increased data sharing to improve transparency and ultimately to secure the supply chain.”

Paul Fowler, Vice President, Healthcare Innovation at Axway and co-author of the report stated, “The pharmaceutical supply chain is incredibly complex today and promises to be even more so as it expands to include new distribution points.  This growth coupled with the advent of increasing regulations on the state, federal and foreign government level necessitates increased visibility into product movement in the pharmaceutical supply chain.  We believe the blueprint outlined in this paper is the best way to accomplish that goal.”

The Center’s Blueprint has provided the industry with an IT roadmap that supports the use of industry-wide standards to address regulatory compliance and enables collaboration for a more efficient, secure supply chain. The Blueprint recommends a phased approach to data sharing, based upon a strong foundation of standards, synchronized master data and trading partner agreements that promote shared benefits.

The Life Sciences Strategies: A Practical Approach to Healthcare Supply Chain Collaboration white paper is available for downloading at the Center’s Web site at www.HCSupplyChainResearch.org.  Additional Center white papers, including the SAP Support of the Healthcare Supply Chain’s Ongoing Effort to Ensure Patient Safety and Drive Business Value, also are available at the Center’s Web site.

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About the Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research
The Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research, formerly the HDMA Research and Education Foundation, is a 501(c) (3) non-profit charitable organization that serves as the knowledge partner of the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA). The Center is committed to serving the healthcare industry by providing research and education specifically focused on priority healthcare supply chain issues. The Center’s mission is twofold: To conduct research and disseminate information that will enhance the knowledgebase, efficiency and effectiveness of the total healthcare supply chain; and to provide thought leadership to further enhance the safety and security of the healthcare supply chain through future focused study and programming.

About HDMA
The Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA) is the national association representing primary, full-service healthcare distributors. Each business day, the member companies of HDMA are responsible for ensuring that more than eight million prescription medicines and healthcare products are safely delivered to 145,000 pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes, physician offices, clinics, government and other providers in all 50 states. This essential public health function is provided with tremendous efficiency, saving the nation’s healthcare system nearly $32 billion each year. HDMA and its members are the vital link in the healthcare system, working daily to provide value, remove costs and develop innovative solutions to deliver care safely and effectively. For more information, visit www.HealthcareDistribution.org.

About Axway
Axway recently merged with Tumbleweed Communications to become the leading global provider of multi-enterprise solutions and infrastructure, serving over 11,000 organizations in more than 100 countries.  Axway speeds and secures business interactions – both inside and outside the enterprise – by optimizing the way information is moved, managed and protected.  Powered by Synchrony™, a multi-enterprise service-oriented framework, Axway’s customers can “start anywhere, use anything” to complement their existing infrastructures.  Axway’s comprehensive offering includes: business-to-business integration, managed file transfer, secure email, business activity monitoring, enterprise application integration, service-oriented architecture, business process management, track & trace and identity validation solutions.  Axway provides professional and managed services, as well as cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings.  Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Axway’s global presence spans 20 countries.