Barcode Reader will Avoid Medication Errors

At Massena Memorial Hospital, nurses do their rounds using new machines to avoid medication errors and maintain the safety of their patients. The state Department of Health granted the amount of $141,000 to the hospital to acquire and implement a Bedside Medication Verification system. The new machines utilize a bar-code system to avert probable medication mistakes to MMH patients particularly in the medical, surgical, pediatric, telemetry and ICU. Before the nurses oversee the patient's medication, nurses will scan the barcode reader on the patient's hospital bracelet to read the patient's electronic medical record. This will help them to review the patient's information on allergies, recent test results, vital signs, medical history and other pertinent data.

A registered nurse and clinical coordinator in MMH's Information Technology Department, Marilyn Carr said that the system will help the hospital staff to check and verify the five key pieces of patient's information:

• correct patient;
• correct medication;
• correct dosage;
• correct method of administering the medication (orally, by injection, etc.); and
• correct time between doses.

The safety features of the machine will aid to trim down preventable medication errors and increase communication between doctors, nurses and staff in the different departments of the hospital. [via watertowndailytimes.com]