Positive Patient Identification
Bar code technology is making the leap from the supermarket checkout line to the bedside to provide an added layer of patient safety in UPMC hospitals.
Pharmacists and nurses on select patient units at UPMC Presbyterian are now using bar code technology at the point of medication administration. Eventually, PPID will be expanded for use throughout the hospital and across the entire health system.
Bar code technology is being implemented because it can be used as an additional tool for patient safety. It helps ensure the five “rights” — that the right patient receives the right dose of the right medication at the right time and by the right means of administration.
The Bar Code Process
Bar code technology is being tested and fine-tuned by UPMC, under the direction of its Information Services Division, for use in medication administration and other facets of health care.
Using a bar code system for medication administration is a multistep process. First, when the pharmacist enters a prescriber’s order into the computerized pharmacy system, the order appears in real time on a computer on the patient unit or floor. These patient unit computers are placed on the mobile medication carts that nurses take with them to patient rooms.
To access the computer, the nurse scans the bar code on his or her UPMC identification badge and enters a unique password. The nurse then scans the bar code on the patient’s wristband, and the patient’s medication profile appears on the computer screen. Finally, the nurse scans the bar code on the packet holding the dose of medication the patient is to receive.
The system automatically generates a warning if the right drug is not being delivered in the right dose to the right patient via the right route at the right time.
Safety is UPMC’s priority and the driving force behind the health system’s decision to develop strategic plans to bring PPID to the bedside of all patients it serves.