EP#25 --- Smarter stock, safer care: How Danish hospitals cut waste with GS1 barcodes and teamwork

In this first episode of Season 2 of SCAN/STORIES, discover how Danish hospitals are tackling medicine waste and improving patient care with nothing more than barcodes, smartphones, and strong collaboration.In the Central Denmark Region, hospital pharmacists were struggling with expired medicines, fragmented stock rooms, and time-consuming manual checks. With thousands of products spread across hundreds of locations, valuable medicines were often going to waste simply because there was no easy way to track or share them in time.That changed with the introduction of a simple, barcode-based app built on GS1 global standards. By scanning GS1 DataMatrix barcodes using a smartphone, pharmacists can instantly access expiry dates and product details, identify medicines at risk of expiring, and reallocate them across hospitals before it is too late.Powered by global identifiers like the GTIN, the solution delivers fast, accurate visibility without adding complexity. Since 2022, it has helped reallocate nearly 4,000 medicine packages, saving over €260,000, reducing waste, and supporting more sustainable healthcare operations.This episode shows how trusted data and global standards can unlock practical, scalable innovation, proving that smarter stock management is not just about efficiency, but about safer care for patients.