Accreditation

Bar codes on patient arm bands to improve safety and prevent medical errors

Accreditation Connection, November 2, 2009

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Polk County hospitals in Florida are using bar-code technology at the bedside to help improve patient safety, according to The Ledger. Every year, medication errors harm at least 1.5 million people, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies reported in 2006.

Now, nurses employed by the Polk County hospitals will routinely scan a bar code on each patient's armband as well as read the patient's name. The scan will also help automate the checks and balances nurses normally go through before administering medication. This process helps the patients see the initiatives hospitals are taking to improve their own safety.

Winter Haven Hospital is the latest to join the Polk County system in using bar codes on patient armbands. Other hospitals using bar codes include Bartow Regional Medical Center, Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center, and Lakeland Regional Medical Center. Also planning to implement the bar codes soon is Lake Wales Medical Center.

To read more on the story, click here.



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