Can a hospital be like a supermarket? Better data will provide cost controls, efficiencies, and income streams.

Electronic bar coding, scanning, and the data generated are an inevitable part of a health care provider's future. Initially, it will probably be implemented in hospitals, where the diversity of products and scrutiny to reduce costs are greatest. Many lessons can be learned from the introduction of electronic scanning in the grocery or supermarket industry. The transformation to scanning in the grocery industry met with initial resistance and problems, but generated creative solutions, best practices, and a rich database.