VRS Solutions and their Providers: Is Choice an Option?
Written by The Adents TeamWhen the Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) imagined the Verification Router Service (VRS) concept to enable the verification of saleable returns in the US, the intent was to design a solution that – when built according to VRS specification – would create an ecosystem where different VRS solutions would be interoperable. This would simplify the process for distributors and manufacturers alike in that they would need to connect to only one VRS solution and the process would work: requests and responses flow seamlessly between VRS solution providers.
It became even more critical for the HDA to coordinate development of an interoperable and open architecture given lawsuits were being brought to bear to allow for a “free” market when it came to VRS solution choice.
VRS: Interoperability is key to ensure seamless flow of data
Some solution providers, like Tracelink, are preventing access to manufacturer data that resides in their repositories. To be specific, these solution providers will not let a competitors VRS solution query data in their repositories. They quote several reasons for not allowing access, but the most obvious (unstated) reason is to limit competitor access to their system. The end result of restricted access is that manufacturers will be obligated to use the VRS of the solution provider where their data resides, and all of the additional “features” that come with it.
Arguments can be made as to what “best practices” should be when it comes to querying operational systems, but the option for direct access should be available for manufacturers that don’t want to replicate their serial number repositories. Many manufacturers will not expect large volumes of requests, and others may not want the additional expense of a replicated repository. Whatever the reason, manufacturers should be given the choice to make their own decisions in how they deploy their solutions.
Other VRS solution providers maintain open solutions with the ability to query data in their repositories without using their VRS solution. This is in spirit with the interoperability foundation that the VRS eco-system is built on.
Adents VRS approach
Adents counts themselves as one of those players. Adents offers an L4 solution and a VRS that may be bundled or deployed separately. Both solutions will fully support the functions they were designed to perform (L4 or VRS), and both are based on the powerful Microsoft Azure cloud platform. It is Adents philosophy that customers should have the choice to deploy our solutions as they like and use their data as they like.
For more information on Adents Verification Router Service, please download our whitepaper.
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