The UPN Repository is a master catalog of medical/surgical products containing basic data elements such as Manufacturer Name, Item/Product Number, Description, Unit of Measure, and Quantity associated with the Unit of Measure.

Its purpose is to provide a central source of information necessary for the healthcare industry to cross-reference manufacturer part numbers to Universal Product Numbers.

The UPN Repository already includes over 250,000 items. Industry-wide adoption of a unique identifier for medical/surgical products will benefit everyone from the manufacturer to the consumer, just as it has for the pharmaceutical industry: the National Drug Code (NDC) is recognized universally and has been extremely successful in implementing a unique number which identifies a specific drug.

Buying organizations, such as the US Department of Defense (DOD), require all manufacturers doing business with them to identify and bar code their products with the UPN. The objective is to make the UPN the single ordering number for medical/surgical products.