News Briefs: Hospital uses bar code system to reduce errors
September 1, 2006 3 minutes read
Hospital uses bar code system to reduce errors
In 2005, Lawrence (KS) Memorial Hospital had a medication error rate that was less than one mistake out of every 10,000 dosages, good but not good enough, according to hospital director of pharmacy and IV therapy Pat Parker.
To cut the rate even further, Lawrence Memorial has installed a state-of-the-art bar code system to ensure the right patient gets the right dosage of the right medication at the right time. While some 10% of the nation's hospitals have started using bar codes to track patients and their drugs, Parker told the Lawrence Journal-World the hospital's system is one of only a few that gives nurses and doctors access to real-time information on when medications are given.
Here's how the system works:
- When patients are admitted, their medical information is entered into a computer system that generates a bar code, which is added to the patient's wristband.
- Every medication that is dispensed at the hospital is bar-coded.
- Before a patient is given a pill, shot, or IV, the bar-codes are scanned with hand-held scanners. The patient's wristband also is scanned. If there's an error, the system notifies the nurse before the medication reaches the patient.
- The system also alerts the hospital pharmacy when a patient's doctors prescribe conflicting medications.
- As soon as a medication is administered, the information is readily accessible to the patient's doctor and to the hospital's medical and pharmacy staffs.
Parker said that while many hospitals use bar codes, their efforts often are hampered by scanners not working on curved surfaces. And not all drug companies bar code their products.
At Lawrence Memorial, the pharmacy staff puts a flat surface bar code on hundreds of medications before they reach patients. Each is triple-checked before it leaves the pharmacy. To get around the curved surface problem, the hospital uses a bar code that fits in a 1/8-inch square.
"The system makes it very hard to make a medications error," hospital vice president of nursing Dana Hale told the newspaper. "If I try to give the patient in Bed 1's pill to the patient in Bed 2, the system tells me not to."
Plans call for adding patient vital signs including temperature, pulse, respiration rate, and blood pressure to the system by year's end.
Hospital med dispensing system pays for itself
O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, Athens, OH, says its OmniRx medication dispensing system from Omnicell Inc., improved emergency department (ED) per patient charge capture in the first year of operation to more than pay for the installation and improved the hospital's bottom line.
The system automates the management and dispensing of medications at the point of use, reportedly increasing patient safety, improving workflow efficiency, and enhancing security. Omnicell says key features include biometric ID, advanced single-dose dispensing, bar code confirmation, the widest range of drawer modules enabling all security levels, integration with a web browser for clinical reference information, and patient medication profiling.
"The results were impressive," hospital pharmacy director Eric Richards said. 'They were much better than I thought they'd be." He said his evaluation showed a one-year increase in per patient charge capture of a bit more than 65%, and a department revenue increase that more than paid for the system.
The hospital has added additional Omnicell units in the medical-surgical unit, same-day surgery, and heart catheterization lab because of the performance of the ED system.
In 2005, Lawrence (KS) Memorial Hospital had a medication error rate that was less than one mistake out of every 10,000 dosages, good but not good enough, according to hospital director of pharmacy and IV therapy Pat Parker.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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