Healthcare and Pharmaceutical integration

Cardinal Health EDI integration for suppliers

A guide for manufacturers supplying Cardinal Health, covering the order-to-cash documents, ship notice and traceability data, and ERP integration.

Request Cardinal Health integration help See common documents

Overview

Understanding Cardinal Health integration

Who this is for: Pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical and medical product manufacturers supplying Cardinal Health distribution operations.

Cardinal Health is one of the largest healthcare distributors in the United States, serving pharmacies, hospitals and other providers. Suppliers exchange the familiar order-to-cash documents with Cardinal Health: purchase orders, purchase order acknowledgments, advance ship notices and invoices.

In pharmaceutical distribution, the ship notice carries more than shipment details. Third-party sources report that Cardinal Health requires advance ship notices to transmit transaction data associated with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, which ties EDI accuracy directly to regulatory traceability obligations. Product identifiers, lot numbers and expiration dates must be correct and consistent with the physical shipment.

Requirements vary by Cardinal Health division and program, and sources disagree on whether some documents, such as product activity data, apply to every supplier. Suppliers should request the current implementation guide from Cardinal Health's EDI onboarding team for their specific division.

Workflows

Typical Cardinal Health business workflows

Supplier order-to-cash

1Receive 850 purchase order
2Send 855 acknowledgment
3Ship with lot and expiry data
4Send 856 with traceability data
5Send 810 invoice

Documents and APIs

Common Cardinal Health transactions

Documents commonly exchanged with Cardinal Health, based on the public sources listed below. Exact requirements depend on your program, so always confirm against Cardinal Health's current implementation guide.

Document	Name	Direction	Purpose
850	Purchase Order	From Cardinal Health	Cardinal Health orders products.
855	Purchase Order Acknowledgment	To Cardinal Health	The supplier confirms or adjusts the order.
856	Advance Ship Notice	To Cardinal Health	Describes the shipment and carries traceability-related data.
810	Invoice	To Cardinal Health	Bills for shipped products.
852	Product Activity Data	From Cardinal Health	Shares product movement data where the program uses it.

Connectivity

How companies connect

Direct EDI or EDI provider
Suppliers connect directly or through an EDI provider using details from Cardinal Health's onboarding team.

Challenges

Common integration challenges

Traceability data
Ship notices must carry accurate product, lot and expiration data to support DSCSA obligations.
Division differences
Document requirements vary by Cardinal Health division and program.
Missing or incomplete ship notices
Third-party sources report that missing or incomplete ship notices can lead to supplier charges.

How ECOM helps

How ECOM can support your Cardinal Health integration

Industry

Pharmaceuticals

See how ECOM supports pharmaceutical distribution EDI and traceability.

Solution

EDI Integration

Integrate Cardinal Health documents with your ERP and warehouse.

Product

PRISM-SCV

Monitor ship notices and flag missing traceability data before shipments arrive.

ERP integration options

ECOM integrates Cardinal Health documents with ERP and warehouse systems so lot, expiration and traceability data flows from shipping into ship notices automatically.

Visibility and exception management

PRISM-SCV, ECOM's supply chain visibility product, is designed to follow each Cardinal Health document from receipt to response and flag late or missing documents and mismatches, so your team can resolve exceptions before they affect the relationship.

Explore PRISM-SCV

Cardinal Health integration FAQs

Which EDI documents does Cardinal Health use with suppliers?

The core set is the 850 purchase order, 855 acknowledgment, 856 ship notice and 810 invoice. Some programs add other documents, so confirm with Cardinal Health's onboarding team.

Why does Cardinal Health require ship notices?

Third-party sources report that Cardinal Health uses ship notices to transmit transaction data associated with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act.

Do requirements differ by division?

Yes. Requirements can vary by Cardinal Health division and program, so suppliers should request the guide for their specific relationship.

Is ECOM a Cardinal Health partner?

This page is an integration guide and does not indicate a partnership with Cardinal Health. ECOM builds integrations to published requirements.

Sources and accuracy

This guide summarizes publicly available information as of October 2026. Cardinal Health sets its own requirements and can change them at any time; your Cardinal Health implementation guide, supplier portal or account contact is the authoritative source for your program.