An initiative by MEDIIO with GDEKK, AGKAMED & Clinicpartner
Connect once.
Reach the entire hospital demand.
The API Initiative establishes a shared interface standard for healthcare procurement – product data, prices, documents and events in real time. No more EDI patchwork and catalog uploads.
Reach
Access the bundled hospital demand across all participating purchasing cooperatives.
Efficiency
One interface serves shop, extranet, digital twin, MEDIIO and GPO systems.
Future-proof
Real-time and event-based instead of batch – ready for the XRechnung/ZUGFeRD era.
Jointly backed by
The combined power of MEDIIO and its cooperation partners
- > €4bn
- Combined procurement volume p.a.
- 700+
- Healthcare facilities
- 5,000+
- Suppliers in the network
- 4M+
- Articles in the network
The problem
25 years of EDI – and procurement is stuck
In practice, EDI has been limited to a few document types: order, order status, commercial order confirmation (< 5 suppliers), as well as dispatch advice and invoice (< 50 suppliers, often with insufficient quality). The classic EDI invoice is also being replaced by law with XRechnung and ZUGFeRD.
Batch, not real time
Data is exchanged periodically. Current availability or prices at the moment of ordering? Not available.
One interface per channel
Shop, extranet, customer systems – every channel is connected separately, slowly and expensively.
Inconsistent data quality
Dispatch advice and invoices reach many hospitals only incompletely and inconsistently.
E-invoice is phasing out
The classic EDI invoice is being displaced by XRechnung and ZUGFeRD – a break in the familiar EDI scope.
The solution
One reusable API instead of many point-to-point interfaces
APIs significantly extend the scope, allow real-time queries from any customer system and enable event-based communication – the supplier actively reports relevant changes from its system. This is exactly where APIs differ from EDI.
API vs. EDI
| EDI (status quo) | API Initiative | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Order, status, confirmation, dispatch advice, invoice | Significantly broader – content, prices, documents, events |
| Timing | Batch / asynchronous | Real-time queries from any customer system |
| Initiative | Customer-driven only | Also event-based: the supplier pushes changes |
| Reusability | Point-to-point per channel | One API for shop, extranet, digital twin, MEDIIO & cockpits |
Four building blocks, one interface
Content
Product and master data in real time – instead of outdated catalog uploads.
Prices
Customer-specific prices and conditions on demand, always up to date.
Documents
End-to-end flow: order → confirmation → dispatch advice → invoice.
Events
Push on relevant changes – price, availability, article, recall.
Use cases
What suppliers use the API for
We are building out these use cases step by step.
Product master data – core information
Articles, classification and units of measure in real time – content instead of catalog upload.
View details →Product image retrieval
Fetch product images directly from the supplier – always current and in the right resolution.
View details →Specific price information
Query the customer-specific net price per order unit for a given article.
View details →Order status & delivery date
Query an order’s status and the expected delivery date in real time.
View details →Ordering
Submit orders to the supplier directly via API.
Full price list
Retrieve the complete, customer-specific price list as a full export.
Product document retrieval
Fetch datasheets, certificates and instructions for use per article.
Classification information
Retrieve classifications (e.g. eCl@ss) and product groups in a structured way.
Delivery note
Receive electronic delivery notes / dispatch advice for goods receipt.
Reusability
One API – many channels
Fed from ERP and PIM, the same API serves every touchpoint: the supplier’s own shop, the extranet, the digital twin, and external systems such as MEDIIO, other GPO solutions and the hospital directly. Built once, used many times.
The initiative
MEDIIO at the core – backed by strong cooperatives
MEDIIO drives the initiative as the platform core. Together with the leading purchasing cooperatives, we bundle hospital demand behind one shared API standard.
Platform core & initiator
Digital supply chain in healthcare – master data, procurement, integration.
Municipal hospitals
Service and purchasing cooperative of municipal hospitals.
Purchasing cooperative
Strategic procurement management for hospitals, care and pharmacies.
Purchasing cooperative
Leading hospital cooperative in Germany – Gemeinschaftskraft®.
Join
Become part of the API Initiative
Are you a healthcare supplier and want to connect once instead of many separate interfaces? Leave your details – we’ll get in touch for onboarding.
- Free & non-binding
- Personal onboarding
- One API for all channels