Healthcare barcode effect on Patient's safety

Running Head: HEALTHCARE BARCODE EFFECT ON PATIENT'S SAFETY
Healthcare barcode effect on Patient's safety
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Abstract
The increasing number of medication errors in hospital setting has long been an issue of concern. The use of barcode technology was integrated in the healthcare system to reduce the number of these medication errors. It is argued that incorporating these errors in the healthcare system can give rise to other issues, such as dissatisfaction of the nursing staff, reluctance of the staff toward new technology, and process management errors. However, education of the nursing staff and smooth integration of the barcode technology in the existing system can help in increasing the efficiency of the nursing staff and reducing the overall cost of healthcare and medication errors. It is found that implementing barcode technology can help in identifying, tracking, and eliminating the medication errors. More research is needed to prove the effectiveness of the barcode system in the home settings.
Background Information
A medication error is defined as "any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional or consumer" CITATION Sus09 \p 103 \l 1033 (Fowler, Sohler, & Zarillo, 2009, p. 103). These errors can be made at any stage of treatment from prescription to administration of drugs and is not limited to the errors made during they stay of a patient at the hospital. However, most of the medication errors occur during their stay in the hospital which can lead to fatal injuries and at times, even death. It has been found that an error in administration is made in 19% of all the doses administered by the professional healthcare of which 7% of the errors are likely to have an adverse effect on the health of the patient CITATION Joa08 \l 1033 (Ross, 2008).
Purpose
The number of medical errors made by the nursing staff is extremely high and is becoming a serious health concern. The use of barcode technology can significantly bring down the number of these errors as it standardizes the medical process leaving little room for errors. However, implementing a whole new system itself can be a problem as the nursing staff may not be able to accept the change which can result in new problems. The aim of this paper is to identify the causes of medical errors and the potential problems that might occur during and after the installation of the barcode technology.
Literature Review
Barcode Technology
The need to make use of barcode technology in the healthcare system arose in the late 90`s when the incidents of a large number of medical injuries were linked with medical errors causing the healthcare professionals to give wrong medications. These medical errors may be caused during the transcription of medical records, and wrongly identifying the patients CITATION EGP10 \l 1033 (Poon, Keohane, Yoon, & Bane, 2010).
The whole process of medication is long as it involves entry of the patient, transcription and verification of information, administration of medication, and then the consumption by the patient CITATION Sus09 \l 1033 (Fowler, Sohler, & Zarillo, 2009). The whole process is not just carried out by one particular nurse but includes the whole team of pharmacists, unit clerks, and nurses who must make sure that the right medication is given to the right patient at the right time CITATION Sus09 \l 1033 (Fowler, Sohler, & Zarillo, 2009).
Medication Errors and Barcode Technology in Healthcare
It has been found that medication errors are more likely to get identified if they are made at an earlier stage of the medical process and up to 50% of these errors are prevented before wrongful administration or treatment takes place. Some of the most common causes of medical errors include lack of access to patient`s information, inability to verify the accurate dose to be given, not being able to identify the patient, and confusion between medicines that look or sound alike CITATION Nur11 \l 1033 (Nursing Management, 2011). A research was conducted to identify the reason why such errors are so commonly made and it was found that shortage of nursing staff is the leading cause of such errors as it increases the workload per staff members while the lack of experience of the nursing staff was identified to be the second cause CITATION Vir07 \l 1033 (Ulanimo, O'Leary-Kelley, & Connolly, 2007).
The use of Barcode Technology in the healthcare system was much needed to control the occurrence of such errors as it allows the nursing staff to confirm the patient`s medical history, identity, course of treatment to be taken, and other medical information needed CITATION Nur11 \l 1033 (Nursing Management, 2011). The use of Barcode Technology is now being adopted across the country to minimize the medication errors and improve the quality of care being provided to the patients. However, this alone does not solve the problem and replacing the whole system of operation can bring about problems of its own. Many researches have been conducted the study the impact barcode technology on medication errors and the resulting problems of integrating it with the existing system.
The Alegent Lakeside Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, has been using the barcode technology for administration and documentation along the use of workstations on wheels (WOWs). Parker and Baldwin studied these changes in the hospital over a period of time to identify the advantages and disadvantages of this technology. It was required for the nurses to take WOW`s between the rooms of the patients which was quite difficult. Soon after its implementation the hospital started receiving complaints from the nursing staff with respect to their back, wrist, and shoulder discomfort resulting from moving the WOWs back and forth from patient to patient CITATION Che08 \l 1033 (Parker & Baldwin, 2008). In order to improve this situation, the wheels on WOWs were replaced with larger ones to ease the movement but it had little impact on the satisfaction of the nursing staff. The management thus decided to improve the technology by providing each member of the nursing staff wi...