The topic is the increasing use of the Internet, handhelds, and more advanced tracking systems in supply chain management (SCM). The Internet is now a quicker and more economical venue to connect with suppliers than electronic data interchange (EDI). Some experts believe that the future may hold the ability to use the Internet with more advanced procurement and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to prove a transparently fully integrated purchasing and supply tracking chain between suppliers and providers. Other organizations use handhelds and point-of-inventory systems, including supply towers, to more successfully track products that are already available within the organization. However, the establishment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of unit-level barcodes for human drug and biological products might be the most significant change in SCM. The effort, say experts is likely to be the forerunner of wider use of microscopic electronic product codes (EPCs) and advanced trackers that will completely change the ways in which supplies are tracked from supplier to provider. Among topics covered are Ohio State University Health System's connection to Neoforma's online marketplace and its use of applications from Neoforma and Owens & Minor to track purchases; Advocate Health Care's use of a point-of-use inventory management system from Omnicell for more effective back-end materials management; and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital's use of handhelds and internally created barcodes for tracking patient care items from supply rooms to the bedside.