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Nearly one in four Americans say they or a family member have received the wrong medication at some point from a healthcare professional.* Patient safety has become a top priority. And most see barcodes—that staple of the grocery store—as offering the safety check—and privacy—which patients deserve. But hurdles remain.
Current HIS systems do not print a usable barcode on a laser or thermal wristband from their ADT application software. And, the curved nature of a wristband calls for a compressed barcode. What’s more, studies show that as many as 30% of patients may lack a wristband at a given point in time. Rather than turning to admissions for a replacement band—and losing valuable time in the process—nursing must have the ability to create a replacement band on the floor. Once again, the HIS company or third party vendor must provide software to enable this function.
The bar code may also be used to verify patient identity using automated Glucometers, bedside Phlebotomy systems, point of care Blood Bank and transfusion systems and supply chain management systems. This is doable, but requires agreement on a standard type of bar code (most likely code 128) and on what data to be represented by the bar code.
And all of these processes provide the best quality control only if a bar code is read from the employee’s badge to record who drew the sample, administered the meds, etc. The technology exists, but the need remains for faster employee ID systems with more flexibility interfaced to employee databases for validity checking.
*Source: AmerisourceBergen Index, February 25, 2003
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