Use of Bar Code Technology in Healthcare

High healthcare costs continue to be a barrier to access to quality healthcare many
individuals and families. Thus, to improve access to healthcare, it is important to find ways of
reducing healthcare costs without compromising on quality of medical care that healthcare
facilities provide to patients. One way of reducing healthcare costs without compromising its
quality is through full leveraging of solutions that are already used in other industries, such as
bar code technology. Bar code technology not only simplifies medication administration
process but also improves the accuracy of the process.

Use of Bar Code Technology to Reduce Medication Errors
Medication errors are preventable events that either cause or result in inappropriate
use of medication or harm the patient. Medication errors constitute one of the greatest threats
to safety of patients (Langabeer & Helton, 2016). They are also a major contributor to high
costs of healthcare. It has been estimated that any time a patient experiences an adverse drug
event while in hospital, their length of stay increases by an average of 4-5 days (Shah et al.,
2016). Such an increase in hospital stay significantly increases healthcare costs. It is
estimated that each adverse event caused by medication errors leads to an increase of about
$5,000 to healthcare costs (Shah et al., 2016). Therefore, reducing medication errors goes a
long way in reducing healthcare costs.
The use of bar code technology in healthcare is one way of reducing medication
errors. In particular, the technology has been found to significantly improve medication
administration process (Denecker, 2016). Bar code technology reduces medication errors in
five ways. First, the technology ensures that medication is administered to the right patient.
Secondly, the technology ensures that the patient receives the right drug dosage.
Administering wrong dosages to patients can have deadly consequences. For instance, during

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organ transplant procedures, giving patients wrong dosages of immunosuppressive drugs can
lead to death of the patient. Apart from helping healthcare professionals to provide right
dosages of drugs to the right patients, bar code technologies also ensure that patients receive
the right drug, in the right route, and at the right time (Bowers et al., 2015).
How Bar Code Technology Improves Medication Administration Process
Bar codes placed on patients provide nurses with all the data that they need to avoid
committing medication administration errors. This data includes name of the patient, the
medication that they need, the dosages of the medications, when they should receive the
medications, and the route of delivery. To obtain this data, all the nurses have to do is scan
the bar code and all the required data will be delivered to the nurse via a computer software
system (Shah et al., 2016). With such information available to the nurse, they are able to
administer the right medications, to the right patient, in the right route, dosage, and time.
Studies have shown that getting all these elements of medication administration right reduces
the likelihood of a medical profession committing medical errors by half.
Verification of medication at the patient’s bedside using bar code technology allows
nurses to document drugs administration fast and accurately. Such administration reduces
medical errors and adverse events resulting from medical errors like death. Apart from
reducing medical errors and improving patient outcomes, the use of bar code technology in
medication administration also improves satisfaction of nursing staff. It also improves patient
satisfaction.

Conclusion

Medication administration is a fairly complex process in healthcare. Nurses who
perform this process are prone to making mistakes which not only lead to poor patient
outcomes but also lead to increased healthcare costs. The use of bar code technology

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simplifies the process of medication administration and also makes it more accurate. It,
therefore, leads to significant reduction in medication errors, improvement in patient
outcomes, and reduction in costs of healthcare delivery.

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References

Bowers, A. M., Goda, K., Bene, V., Sibila, K., Piccin, R., Golla, S. & Zell, K. (2015). Impact
of bar-code medication administration on medication administration best
practices. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 33(11), 502-508.
Denecker, J. (2016, October 24). How to Do More with Less in Healthcare. TED Institute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efFSmmsMn8M&feature=youtu.be
Langabeer, J. R., & Helton, J. (2016). Health care operations management: A systems
perspective (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Shah, K., Lo, C., Babich, M., Tsao, N. W., & Bansback, N. J. (2016). Bar code medication
administration technology: a systematic review of impact on patient safety when used
with computerized prescriber order entry and automated dispensing devices. The
Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy, 69(5), 394.