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Posted April 13, 2006
Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare: New Products
Advanced Labeling with
RFID Capability
Optio Advanced Labeling, a solution that allows healthcare facilities to generate thermal, bar-code and RFID labels and print them on-demand from Windows desktop computers and mobile devices was recently announced. Research & Markets expects the RFID industry to grow from a $1.95 billion market in 2005 to $26.9 billion in 2015, according to a June 2005 report. But while other industries such as manufacturing begin to incorporate RFID and bar-code labeling in business processes, healthcare lags behind.
Advanced labeling solutions such as bar code and RFID tags offer far-reaching benefits to both the clinical and business process sides of healthcare. Optio Advanced Labeling enables hospital staff to create bar-coded patient identification and RFID labels on demand, whether in the admissions department or at the patient's bedside. These smart labels can be used to track pharmaceuticals between pharmacy and patient, accurately identify lab specimens and biopsy samples, protect infants and Alzheimer's patients by tracking their location, and manage controlled substances, pathogens and other materials that pose a public health risk. The technology is also helping facilities comply with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act's (HIPAA) privacy and security rules as well as Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) medication management regulations.
"Advanced Labeling is part of Optio's cost-effective suite of health information management (HIM) solutions that enables healthcare facilities to improve hospital processes and patient encounters through efficiency," said Steve Kaye, Optio senior vice president of marketing and product management. "Bar-coding wristbands at the point of admission or using RFID tag readers to track patients can dramatically reduce the amount of time care providers spend on administrative procedures. This time can then be redirected toward the patient. Advanced Labeling allows our healthcare customers to support a gradual, cost-effective transition to advanced bar-coding and RFID technologies."
"With bar-code technology becoming increasingly affordable, it's surprising that only 3% of small hospitals are currently bar coding medication," said Elaine King, RHIA, Optio healthcare product manager. "Mismedicating patients is one of the leading causes of accidental death in a hospital setting. Bar codes and RFID technology could significantly reduce this risk."
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