Transcript Barcode Technology in healthcare

Barcode Technology in
healthcare
Nowadays, published reports illustrate
high rates of medical error (adverse
events) and the increasing costs of
healthcare. As a result, the desire for
barcoding technology in healthcare has
grown as a realistic and applicable
solution to reduce medical errors and
promote patient safety
Barcoding in healthcare have a variety of
applications, including the following
Drug Identification and Medication Management
Barcodes must be linear in nature and must be readable by barcode
scanners.
Medication barcodes must have specified information for drug
identification.
Barcode information on these items must include the National Drug
Code (NDC) number of the drug, a 10-character identification
number for the medication. The NDC contains the name of the
medication, dosage and drug company that produces the
medication.
Additional information that may be included in medication barcodes
may include the expiration date and lot number of the
medication. This is to ensure that counterfeit or expired drugs are
not being administered to patients.
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Medication management is a difficult task, where it focuses on
the "five rights": right patient, right medication, right dose,
right time, and right route of administration.
Barcode medication verification at bedside allows for nurses
to automatically document the administration of drugs by
means of barcode scanning. A study conducted in 2010,
found that barcode usage prevented about 90 000 serious
medical errors each year and reduced mortality rate by 20%.
 One case study noted that the use of barcodes reduced
medication administration error by 82% across five units
studied from pre-implementation to post-implementation.
 Other benefits that were realized included improved nursing
staff satisfaction, improved patient satisfaction, and improved
community relations.
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Specimen Collection and Blood Infusion
Safety
Healthcare professionals use specimen testing (blood, urine,
or other) to help diagnose disease, assess health, and
monitor medication level. Accurate results can be yielded from
error-free collection procedures.
 Specimens that are collected incorrectly may lead to
erroneous test results, which may lead to serious
consequences for patients. This may include delayed or
inappropriate treatments and incorrect medication
adjustments.
 More than 160 000 adverse medical events per year have
been suspected in the United States because of
misidentification of patient or laboratory specimen. Barcodes
have been noted to be the strong intervention to reduce
labeling errors on specimen collection, by ensuring that the
correct patient is receiving the correct analysis.
 Barcode technologies for specimen collection have been noted
to increase patient comfort, decrease possible delays in
diagnosis or treatment, and decrease rework for nurse and
laboratory staff.
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Barcoding blood and other products may allow for
reduction of medical error and increase patient safety.
This is used to minimize the risk of patients receiving the
wrong treatment in healthcare facilities. For example, for
a sample of blood, a minimum of four information pieces
are required for the label, which includes the following:
Unique identifier for the facility from where the blood is
coming from,
Lot number identifying blood donor,
Product code; and
Blood type (ABO and Rh).
Surgical Instrument Identification and
Sterilization
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Barcodes may be used to identify the instruments and
supplies in kits for surgical procedures. Barcodes on
instruments and surgical kits may be used to ensure
compliance with surgeons' preferences for what their kits
contains.
Using barcodes to track what is and what is not used on
a regular basis may allow for hospitals to optimize kit
contents for each surgeon.
This provides opportunities to reduce costs since
surgeons' preferences may change over time. With the
lack of updates to kit and cart contents, it may result in
the purchase of supplies that are never used.
Barcodes on surgical instruments can also be used to
uniquely identify each instrument that is sterilized
individually
Patient Identification
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Barcode technology can help prevent medical errors by
making accurate and reliable information readily
available at the point-of-care.
Information, such as the drug identification, medication
management, infusion safety, specimen collection, etc.
and any other patient care activity can be easily tracked
during the patient stay. Wristbands with barcodes that
contain the information of the patient's medical record or
visit number, and any other identifiers have been proven
effective to provide proper patient care.
Barcoding technology in healthcare plays an important
role in the development of health sector