HIBC

Many medical supplies carry a barcode that spells out who made the item, which product it is, which lot it came from and when it expires, so a hospital or distributor can scan it and know without reading the small print. One such format, widely used in the medical device industry, was set up by the Health Industry Business Communications Council in the United States. It is called HIBC, short for health industry bar code.

The first part identifies the company that labels the product, using a code the council assigns; the rest carries the product number and, where needed, lot, serial number and expiry date. Other systems do similar work in the same industry, such as the GS1 codes used for UDI; a device label may follow either, depending on who issued its code.

Which format a product needs depends on the market it is sold in and on what its buyers require. This entry explains what the term means; it is not regulatory advice, so check with your regulatory contact.