The Hill: Coming Soon: IDs to Track Medical Devices

Opinion By: Josh Rising Read time:
Projects: Medical Device Initiative
The Hill: Coming Soon: IDs to Track Medical Devices

Congressional hearings on health care can be contentious, but the story will be different today (November 19), when the bipartisan House Medical Technology Caucus convenes a forum with representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration , manufacturers, and hospitals to discuss how new tracking codes for medical devices can enhance recalls and assessments of heart stents, glucose monitors, and other products patients need.

Unlike breakfast cereal or auto parts with scannable barcodes, medical devices were one of the few products on the market in our country that lacked a national identification system—until now. After years of delay, the federal government has issued new rules that require the makers of medical devices—artificial hips, implanted stents, and other technologies—to use unique identifying codes to track these products from the manufacturer to the patient.

Read the full article at thehill.com/.

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