Global Service Relation Number (GSRN)

It is the key to accessing information, stored on computer systems, relevant to service(s) provided and received and in some cases, these services could be recurring.

Individuals may be both service providers or clients of an organisation. The GSRN can identify both of these roles uniquely to allow the two roles to be distinguished, enabling them to be captured or recorded within the same IT solutions if needed. An example of where this may occur is a nurse in a hospital who may also be a patient of the same hospital.

The GSRN can be encoded in a barcode or EPC/RFID tag; for example, in a badge or wristband.

The GSRN can be electronically used as a “key” in service registers, dossiers, medical files, invoices, and others.

If there is a need to further identify service encounters of a particular service recipient or provider, the Service Relation Instance Number (SRIN) may be added to the GSRN; for example, to identify the episode of a medical treatment for a patient.

Some examples of how the GSRN can be used to identify the service PROVIDER relationships are:

• A medical procedure, where it could be used to identify an individual medical provider by role. For identification of the individual provider of care, the hospital or the appropriate authority generates a GSRN with AI (8017) for each of its caregivers and encodes it in an appropriate GS1 Data carrier (barcode) symbol on the caregiver’s ID card, work station, work order, etc. In this case, the GSRN would ensure non-significant identification management, securing identification uniqueness and also allowing linkage to local rule management systems.
• A service agreement, where it could be used to manage agreed upon services, such as maintenance services for a television or computer
• A loyalty program required to identify the service relationship between the loyalty program and the service provider (i.e. company providing merchandise due to use of loyalty points)
• A hospital administration can identify the service relationship between hospital and the doctor, nurses, etc

Some examples of how the GSRN can be used to identify the service RECIPIENT relationships are:

• A hospital admission, where it could be used to identify a subject of care globally and uniquely for AIDC purposes and establish an identification uniqueness that does not harm privacy. For identification of the subject of care (patient) the hospital generates a GSRN with AI (8018) for each of its patients and encodes it in an appropriate GS1 Data carrier (barcode) on the patient's wristband as well as his or her corresponding medical record, pathology samples, etc. The GSRN may then be used as the key to link multiple or specific instances of treatment, room charges, medical tests, and patient charges.
• A membership in a frequent flyer programme, where it could be used to record awards, claims, and preferences
• A membership in a loyalty scheme, where it could be used to record visits, purchase value, and awards
• A membership in a club, where it could be used for recording entitlements, use of facilities, and subscriptions
• A loyalty program required to identify the service relationship between the loyalty program and the recipient of the loyalty program (the end user or customer who earns loyalty points)
• Patient admission to a hospital can identify the service relationship between the hospital and the patient
• Utility networks, such as those providing electricity, gas or water, where it could be used to identify the relationship between network service providers and suppliers of utility products
• A GSRN could be used to give students access to other libraries that have formed a cooperative lending agreement. A typical application is the identification of membership in a student library. The library would issue all members a card that includes a unique GSRN identifying the relationship between the library and a student. The library would then scan the GSRN whenever a book was lent or returned. The electronic message from the scanner would then be used to automatically update the library’s stock management database. See the figure below for an example of how the service relationship identifier would appear on this membership card.

Using GS1 standards for tracking blood products

Canberra Hospital Positive Patient Identification

Healthcare Reference Books

The GSRN comprises the GS1 Company Prefix of the company assigning the service relationship identifier, a serialised reference and a check character. The serialised reference is numeric. A GSRN is a fixed length of 18 characters.

Company Prefix: This will be allocated to you by GS1 Australia and will vary in length from seven to nine digits.

Serialised reference: This is assigned by you and we recommend that you begin with zeroes and increase the count sequentially.

Check digit: This is calculated using a check digit calculator.

NOTE: There are two specific Application Identifiers used to encode a GSRN in order to distinguish between the PROVIDER of a service and the RECIPIENT of a service.

Global Service Relation Number AI (8017) = Provider

Global Service Relation Number AI (8018) = Recipient

The option of using AI (8019) Service Relation Instance Number is available for use where further data is required to be captured. The specific use of this within a healthcare context is outlined within ISO TS 18530.

A GSRN can only ever be used within a specifically defined context (relationship with a specific organisation). Where any context changes a new GSRN should be assigned.

The use of GSRN & SRIN is recognised within ISO TS 18530 for use in identifying patients and care providers and is fully compatible with ISO/IEC 15418.