ISQUA18-2473Barcodes Benefit Patients and Caregivers - A Review of Published Case Studies

Abstract

Objectives: - Highlight the value of use of global standard identifiers and barcodes, in many cases applied by the product brand owner, to help improve hospital process to benefit both patients and caregivers - Help to create awareness of the current trends across healthcare providers to leverage barcodes in unique and innovative ways in both their clinical and support processes to improve the patient experience and support the caregiver Methods: A review of known case studies, published during 2017-2018, discussing the value of globally standardised identifiers and barcodes in hospital processes was conducted. Focus was given to the process improvements related to safety and quality as they benefit both patients and caregivers, together with the ROI from process changes. Results: The processes in which global standard barcodes have been deployed in hospitals are wide ranging and the results in terms of positive impact for patients and caregivers are undisputed. These include at the bedside, in the pharmacy, sterilisation services, operating theatre, and during inventory management. In many cases, this leads to clinical staff being able to spend more time focussed on clinical duties. Some examples, from individual hospitals, include: - Full traceability of products from the supplier to the patient and vice versa in the case of recall, meaning resulting actions are more targeted - Increased transparency in the medication administration process, with the medication preparation and dispensing processes being more efficient, whilst minimising errors - Positive patient identification, coupled with bedside scanning 'virtually eliminating' medication errors providing increased surety for patients and caregivers - Giving nurses time, with 9 hours per nurse shift saved in the medication administration process, allowing re-deployment of nurses to additional patient contact activities - Automated inventory management, from ordering to delivery at satellite pharmacy locations ensuring products are in the locations needed by patients and caregivers, reducing shrinkage / waste by 98% and increasing order picking productivity by 100% - Full traceability of surgical instruments, linking to patient and procedure, reducing staff labour and increasing patient safety - Reductions in surgical instrument kit assembly time by up to 2000 hours due to efficiencies created by scanning of instrument barcodes, reducing the need for nurses' time - Increased accuracy in the operating theatres, with efficiency benefits for staff trying to source inventory specific to a particular patient. At the same time enabling more accurate and consistent record keeping, and with case records being available in real-time, better service to patients - Reduced inventory in operating theatres, with visibility of usage ensuring accurate ordering, less stock being required, and less time spent by staff searching for items - Reallocation of 7100 hours of clinical staff time, per annum, being redeployed to patient care, away from inventory management tasks Conclusion: Examples such as those highlighted, make the value of use of globally standardised identification seem like an obvious choice to help create additional surety in processes for patients and caregivers, and at the same time efficiency and accuracy for hospitals. Evidence from these case studies shows that simply scanning a barcode can provide an easy double check at important stages in clinical processes, ensure that the medications and medical devices needed by patients are available when needed, and ultimately help clinical staff minimise time spend undertaking nonclinical duties. (Figure Presented).