Despite the enormous progress we are currently observing in diagnostic and treatment methods, patient safety, both for those hospitalized and those outside the hospital facility, can be compromised for many reasons. Of course, surgical errors, which are difficult to prevent, account for the majority. However, among the others, the largest category consists of medication administration errors, i.e., situations where the wrong patient is given the wrong medication. This most often results in a decrease in therapy effectiveness and prolonged hospital stays, but it can also lead to dangerous complications or even death. These errors very often result from the fact that the registration of medication administration, and the prior verification of its compliance with a medical order, is done manually.
Tests have shown that in the case of manual data entry via keyboard, there is 1 error per 100 characters, while with barcode scanning, there is 1 error per 10,000,000. This advantage, related to the possibilities offered by automatic data collection and processing, was recognized many years ago. Automatic Identification and Data Capture (so-called ADC techniques) involves the use of barcodes, radio frequency tags (RFID), or other machine-readable media for the error-free identification and recording of a unit or process. Research conducted to date has shown many benefits resulting from the implementation of ADC techniques in healthcare, which include:
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error-free and faster identification of patients, medications, and medical devices,
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the ability to track the movement and flow of patients, medications, and medical devices throughout the supply chain by recording and collecting relevant high-quality data,
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automation of medication and medical supply ordering processes,
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optimization of inventory management processes.
Global GS1 standards, independent of technology, their harmonized and interoperable nature, and automatic identification, forming a single system, enable supply chain participants to exchange and process information without human intervention. This leads to the elimination of the main source of errors from the entire system: human error. Numerous examples of pilot implementations have clearly confirmed that labeling and identification should be based on common principles, consistent with open and global standards. For this reason, institutions such as the US Federal Drug Administration or the UK National Health Service and the European Commission recommend the use of open, global GS1 identification and communication standards, which guarantee:
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unique identification of products in a globally standardized data structure, which ensures the authenticity of products available on the market,
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standard data carriers (machine-readable barcodes or RFID/EPC tags),
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standard methods of data capture,
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standards for electronic business data exchange,
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solutions for tracking the movement and origin of products in the supply chain.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2011.