The Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) presented the 2026 Distribution Management Award to Cardinal Health™, recognizing the company’s leadership in advancing Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) implementation across the pharmaceutical supply chain.
Presented annually at HDA’s Distribution Management Conference (DMC), the DMA honors HDA member companies’ efforts to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and safety of the healthcare supply chain through innovative and successful trading partner initiatives. Winning companies are selected by the distributor and manufacturer member executives of the HDA Industry Relations Council.
Cardinal Health was recognized for a project, “Enhancing DSCSA Transparency Through EDI 852 Quarantine Field Implementation,” which incorporated a DSCSA quarantine indicator into a supplier-facing data report (the Electronic Data Interchange 852 inventory report). By repurposing the unused field in an existing report, Cardinal Health was able to provide suppliers with real-time visibility into impacted inventory and improve overall DSCSA compliance to help ensure a safer supply chain. This cross-functional solution ultimately helped minimize supply chain disruptions for the company and trading partners alike while delivering enhanced transparency and regulatory compliance without costly system modifications.
The company reported an overwhelmingly positive supplier response to the solution, with trading partners commending Cardinal Health for advancing transparency while maintaining simplicity of implementation; the approach is now under review within HDA workgroups as a potential model for broader industry adoption.
“Cardinal Health’s approach demonstrates exactly the kind of practical, collaborative innovation this award was created to recognize,” says Perry Fri, Chief Industry Relations Officer and President, HDA Research Foundation. “By enhancing transparency around DSCSA-related quarantines using its existing infrastructure, Cardinal Health ultimately strengthened supply chain visibility, reduced friction for trading partners and set a strong example for industry-wide adoption of this sweeping law.”
