In today’s rapidly changing world, the pressure is on healthcare providers to ensure high-quality levels of patient care whilst working to greater time and financial constraints than ever before. Barcodes are an essential tool within the healthcare industry to not only streamline administrative processes, but to exponentially increase their accuracy levels, which is vital in an industry where administrative mistakes could cost lives.
Supply chain control and asset management are concerns that need to be addressed in the healthcare industry, and barcoding solutions guarantee optimised processing of patient ID, communication of medical administration, specimen collection and pharmacy management. At GSM Barcoding, our team work with hospitals and healthcare providers to provide integrated solutions. Here are some of the ways that barcode technology can be utilised in the healthcare industry.
Medical Administration
Auto-ID healthcare solutions use barcoding and RFID data capture technologies to improve productivity and accuracy in hospitals and clinics. Data collection is automated and works alongside relational database software to allow for the tracking of inventory levels and locations, the management of patient admissions processes, the control of access and security through smart cards, and the tracking of assets like hospital beds and medical equipment.
Having connected barcode devices in a wireless network offers fast and accurate data processing. In addition, there is complete visibility of all administrative processes in your medical facility.
Optimised Patient Care
Patient care can be made easier through RFID technology and barcoding, as every patient can be assigned an ID wristband with a unique barcode for ease of tracking. This helps to reduce any risk of improper medical administration and prevents vital patient information from going missing.
Both independent laboratories and hospitals can benefit from this technology, as specimens can be quickly identified and tracked with asset labels. Human error can occur through manual labelling of samples, but barcoding technology greatly reduces dispensing mistakes and errors, which in turn can speed up pharmacy services allowing quick access to recorded information.
Mobile Communications
Hospitals and clinics benefit from wireless communication, as the busy environment requires a quick way of addressing the needs of every patient. Having all the important information at hand through mobile communication allows for medical staff and patients to have an easy and quick way of communicating. Patient care and productivity for areas such as physiotherapy can be a great advantage for both in-hospital use and beyond.
At GSM Barcoding, we can provide remote patient monitoring, wireless connectivity on-site, patients’ wireless LAN, and mobile devices for data collection. We can help you to find wireless solutions for your facilities, ensuring that you have everything you need to succeed. From data capture devices to wireless networking and mobile device management software, your medical facility will have a healthcare solution to help both staff and patients.
Let’s take a look at some more specific barcoding solutions for different types of healthcare.
Domiciliary Care
Mobile healthcare professionals are constantly away from a primary care environment, so providing them with the necessary information, equipment and medicine is essential.
- Accessing Patient Records – Up-to-the-minute patient information can be supplied remotely to mobile healthcare professionals.
- Schedule Visits – Mobile computers allow for electronic schedules to be sent each morning and updated throughout the day to accommodate emergencies.
- Location Tracking – GPS allows agencies to monitor caregiver locations to improve work safety, document visitation and verify evidence of caregiver location and create an efficient route plan.
Primary Care
Pharmacies and doctors’ surgeries are the first point of call for a patient receiving care. Technology needs to be secure when gathering patient information and produce accurate labelling to reduce the risk of error.
- Specimen Collection – Barcodes can be utilised to enable precise sampling, labelling and analysis, to ensure the correct sample is housed appropriately and reduce the risk of human error.
- Inventory Management – Pharmacies must be able to capture and maintain transaction information, transaction history and a transaction statement for each drug product received 6 years from the date of the transaction. Barcodes can ensure this process is much more effectively streamlined, helping pharmacies to comply with these regulations and reduce security issues.
- Medication Dispensing – Medication is checked three times in a pharmacy, once when taken from the stock, then a second time to ensure the right medication is issued for the right client, and lastly the prescription and medication are scanned again to ensure the patient receives the right medication. Barcodes reduce the possibility of errors and can verify medication instantaneously.
Secondary Care
Secondary care refers to unplanned emergency care, surgery or planned specialist medical care. Barcode technology ensures records are logged securely and are updated throughout the patient’s stay, reducing the risk of medical errors.
- Admissions – A barcode wristband is printed and applied to each patient, helping with quick identification.
- Bedside Point of Care – Barcode technology can be utilised to document evidence of patient care, collect data and ensure accurate patient identification.
- Medication Administration – Technology in medication administration reduces the chance of errors occurring, allowing for instant verification.
