Bar-Code-Assisted Medication Error

While this is an area of concern, I also believe that processing the patients at the registration desk is a task that could be virtually eliminated altogether. Simply by requiring patients to register online and scan or fax documents by a predetermined cutoff time, staff members could complete this process without interruption and have the necessary information already in a file when the patient arrives.

Improved patient safety is the most essential advantage of the BCMA system. “On average a hospital patient is subjected to at least one medication error per day (IOM, 2006)”(Foote). BCMA significantly reduces medication errors that cause a compromise in patient safety. The BCMA verifies the five rights of medication administration before a patient receives a medication by the software alerting the nurse if there is a contraindication between the medicine scanned and the patient’s orders. A pilot study conducted at a 300-bed community hospital found that the BCMA system reduced medication errors by 80% (Foote). Fowler et al states that “decrease in errors related to the wrong patient was a direct result of the bar code system (Fowler).”

The pharmacy, nursing, and informatics department were required to be involved in implementing the bar-code-assisted medication administration (BCMA) patient safety initiative. The involvement of the informatics department was required for planning and coordination of the electronic medication administration record and the scanning devices. The nurses were administering the medications so they were required to undergo training on BCMA methods and the importance of BCMA implementation. Pharmacists were needed to assist nurses in case if a scanning error occurred. Pharmacy, nursing, and informatics staff members were responsible for evaluation of the BCMA system upon implementation.

While the use of barcode technology has had many applications in hospitals for quite some time it has only recently been used to address patient safety. Mitch Work (2005) views bar code technology as a particularly promising advance in the effort to reduce medical errors. Barcodes provide a valuable verification of medication administration by assuring that the "five rights" are confirmed: right patient, right medication, right dose, right time, and right route of administration. The use of barcode technology at the patient's bedside has shown notable gains in reducing medication administration errors, which may account for as many as 7,000 deaths per year in U.S. hospitals.

Errors made while administering medications is one of the most common health care errors reported. It is estimated that 7,000 hospitals deaths yearly are attributed to medication administration errors.

This paper will review the implementation of the Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR) at Clayton Memorial Hospital, a 420-bed hospital, with a regional cancer center, cardiovascular services, ambulatory services and 24 physician practices in West Palm Beach, Florida. Through implementation of the eMAR, the 5 rights of medication administration are maintained (right patient, right medication, right dose, right route and right time), notifications are at the nurse’s fingertips, errors and warnings are readily available, allergy checking is automatically done, dose checking and other applicable clinical data are accessible. This paper will discuss one hospital’s journey on the path to medication safety.

“Medication errors are a frequent and costly problem for hospitalized patients, and medication administration errors account for one-third of all medication errors” (Bonkowski, Carnes, Mirtallo, Reichert, & Weber, 2013, p. 802). Therefore, in return to the all the mistakes that were being made barcode-assisted medication administration was developed. It has been shown that when barcode-assisted medication administration is used properly and in compliance it improves errors by 40-70% in hospitalized patients (Bonkowski et al., 2013, p. 802). Therefore regarding non-compliance with barcode-assisted medication scanning, the nurses who pose a threat to the non-compliance need to be pointed out and dealt with on a first-hand basis. Nurses who start

The study reported limitations due to it being based only in the United Kingdom and that there may be variances if the research was performed at other hospitals around the world. The most common medication administration error found was an incorrect omission (Cottney & Innes, 2015 page 65). The most frequent medication dispensing errors were: 1) wrong amount 2) wrong method 3) wrong time. During the study four factors were found to amplify medication dispensing errors. They were: 1) nurse interruptions 2) increased PRN doses given 3) high patient volume 4) high volume of medications scheduled. The research also shows when using the direct observation method, the error rate spotted does not differ between study durations, having numerous evaluators or when the evaluator steps in to avoid a potential medication administration error to the patient.

Nursing in today?s society involves more than technical skills, critical thinking, and compassion. It also is changing to add the ability to not only understand but be able to utilize technology to impact a patient?s health. There are many technological changes employed in healthcare practices, however, I have chosen to address bar-code medication administration or BCMA. According to an article in the Journal of Patient Safety, ?bar-code medication administration has been shown to be effective in reducing patient medical errors, yet is still only utilized in 5% of the country?s health care facilities? (Sands, Slebodnik, & Young, 2010). Medication errors are common in hospitals and often lead not only to patient harm, but also lengthy hospital stays and law suits. ?One study identified 6.5 adverse events related to medication use per 100 inpatient admissions, more than one fourth of these events were due to errors and were therefore preventable? (Bane, et. al., 2010).

Approximately 440,000 people die every year from preventable medication errors. This is is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Many of these errors could be avoided if Medical facilities would use standard precautions when administering medications. Health care workers should be better educated in patient care and preventable medical errors, this extra knowledge could save millions of lives and save millions of dollars. To keep these medication errors from occurring, it is important that all medical staff keep increasing their knowledge about medication errors and patient care. This will help decrease the death tolls in all Medical facilities.

There is opportunity to improve the quality of health care in Jones Hospital. Information technology (IT) offers the potential to address the organization’s most pressing dilemmas: care fragmentation, medical errors, and rising costs. The leading example of this is the electronic health record (EHR). An EHR, as explained by HealthIT.gov (n.d.), is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. It includes, but is not limited to, medical history, diagnoses, medications, and treatment plans. The EHR, then, serves as a resource that will aid Jones Hospital clinicians in decision-making by providing comprehensive patient information.

The second study focused on a patient care unit, which include 2 medical-surgical units, 2 telemetry units, 2 rehabilitation units, and a medical-surgical intensive care unit, and Oncology unit (Seibert et al., 2014). This is a pre and posttest non-equivalent comparison group study that focused on the medication administration accuracy error rates at a community based hospital. The units were observed and recorded at one month, six months, and 12 months after the electronic barcode medication administration system as implemented. According to Seibert et al., 2014), medication catastrophes attribute to errors in medication administration ranges from 2.4% to 1.1%, and can elevate to 34-49%. Although direct observation is a “standard” tool used in identifying medication errors, other modality such as computerized monitoring, chart reviews is also utilized (Seibert et al., 2014).

Medication administration errors can be made when patients are not properly identified. A consistent method for the proper identification of patients is needed to ensure patient safety. Many institutions have implemented technologies aimed at reducing error rates, for example, bar-code assisted medication (BCAM) administration, but the practice and rate of use varies, and medication errors are still a problem in the healthcare setting. The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of implementing a visual aid that will prompt nurses to scan patient’s identification bands prior to medication administration on the occurrence of medication administration errors.

Electronic medical records (EMR) software is a rapidly changing and often misunderstood technology with the potential to cause great change within the medical field. Unfortunately, many healthcare providers fail to understand the complex functions of EMRs, and they rather choose to use them as a mere alternative to paper records. EMRs, however, have many functionalities and uses that could help to improve the patient-physician relationship and the overall quality of patient care. In order for this potential to be realized, both the patient and the healthcare provider must have a deeper understanding of EMR purpose and function. In this paper will highlights the historical developments and its potential effects on the patient physician relationship in order to

Automatic tracking of patients allows hospitals and other health care facilities the competitive advantage of gathering comprehensive data that allows caregivers to receive the information they need and does not