General Data Company Offers New Durable, High-Resolution Patient Identification Wristbands
General Data Company, Inc., a provider of specialized labeling and identification solutions, has launched its patent-pending PersonalID Patient Identification Wristbands. The wristbands are designed specifically for error-free bar code and photo identification of patients in hospitals and other healthcare environments. They also provide a means for hospitals and other healthcare providers to greatly improve their patient identification processes to help eliminate errors, reduce costs, enhance patient care, address regulatory requirements, and prevent fraud.

"There is a pressing need for hospitals and other healthcare organizations to provide higher levels of positive patient identification," said Peter Wenzel, president of General Data Company. "We have developed the premiere patient identification solution to help healthcare organizations reduce medical errors, cut costs, and improve patient safety and administrative efficiencies. With the addition of bar codes and patient photos, our PersonalID wristbands provide a better way for nurses, doctors, and hospital staffs to positively identify patients and help healthcare providers comply with strict government and industry regulations."

Using a combination of bar code technology and high-resolution patient photos, PersonalID wristbands enable healthcare providers to implement a new level of positive patient identification. The wristbands are made of a durable latex-free material that is designed for both short- and long-term care. They feature a tamperproof snap closure instead of adhesives, and text, bar codes, and patient photos are printed using a simplified thermal-based printing process that does not require toner or a printer ribbon.

PersonalID wristbands were constructed to resist tearing, scratching, alcohol, or blood, as well as to prevent degrading or discoloring in showers, whirlpools, or therapy baths. The tamperproof adhesive-free adjustable snap closure is used instead of more traditional adhesive-based closures, which can attract and harbor bacteria, dirt, and other contaminants. The wristbands meet or exceed the patient identification guidelines for the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and JCAHO.

"As we developed the PersonalID wristbands, we focused on eliminating the typical trouble spots found with many of today's wristbands — durability, printing, and the closure," Wenzel said. "As a result, PersonalID is more durable than any other product on the market, and features a more advanced printing surface for clearer, higher-resolution data. In addition, the snap closure allows nurses to adjust the wristband to the patient's comfort level without worrying about making sure the two sides of the band are stuck together evenly."

PersonalID wristbands enable healthcare providers to easily add patient photographs to the patient wristbands, as well as other healthcare documents. This feature provides an additional method for healthcare providers to positively identify a patient prior to medication administration, blood transfusion, specimen collection, or surgical procedures. Patient photos also help reduce occurrences of patient fraud.

Additional PersonalID product features include:

• Can be integrated into existing hospital information system, laboratory information system, or administration systems for simplified on-demand printing — print only what is needed with no waste;
  
  
• Available in adult, adult/pediatric, and infant sizes; and
  
  
• Can be color-coded for easy patient classification.

"Organizations like the JCAHO, AHA, and FDA, as well as patient advocacy groups, continue to seek improvements in patient safety," stated Wenzel. "Hospitals face increasing challenges to deliver better patient care while lowering expenses. We are confident that PersonalID wristbands will help healthcare providers deliver high-quality patient care, and at the same time, demonstrate to consumers their commitment to patient safety."

Source: www.general-data.com/personalID

Web-Based Product Alert and Recall System Wins HCRIC Aware
Mitretek Systems' Risk and Safety Management Alert System (RASMAS) has received national recognition from the Health Care Research and Innovations Congress (HCRIC) for its innovative work in the advancement of patient safety.

On November 30, 2004, HCRIC awarded RASMAS the Best New Advancement in Patient Safety and Disclosures Award. RASMAS is a Web-based subscription service that provides comprehensive notification, distribution, and management of product alerts and recalls for healthcare organizations.

The inaugural HCRIC Awards ceremony, co-hosted by TETHIC, recognized companies, non-profits, organizations, foundations, government agencies, and academic entities for their excellence and advancement in implementing innovative technology to improve patient care.

Judges for the awards included members of the health industry including Manhattan Research, Deloitte Consulting, Columbia University, Healthy Living Channel, CSC Global Health, and the University of Virginia.

RASMAS was introduced in January 2004 and has the endorsement of The American Hospital Association (AHA). RASMAS began as a grassroots idea that has been converted to practice with the assistance of The Johns Hopkins Center for Innovation in Quality Patient Care (CIQPC). This revolutionary patient safety service has received tremendous recognition and acceptance in the healthcare community. In its first year of production, RASMAS has been adopted by more than 90 subscribing healthcare organizations across the nation.

Mitretek Systems is a nonprofit scientific research and systems engineering organization that works in the public interest to solve complex technological problems in the areas of criminal justice, environment, health, homeland security, transportation, and telecommunications. Within the healthcare arena, Mitretek performs information technology and operations consulting, evaluation, and design as well as strategic, clinical services, and facilities planning.

For more information please visit the RASMAS Web site, http://info.rasmas.mitretek.org/.

Source: Mitretek Systems

Endur ID Introduces the EnduriCuff Plus Adult Wristband
Endur ID, of Haverhill, Mass., recently introduced the EnduriCuff Plus Patient Wristband. This new product is the result of the healthcare industry's demand for a tough and informative band. As with the standard EnduriCuff, this new product brings patient identification to new levels of accuracy, flexibility, and ease of use. Printed on standard inkjet printers, the EnduriCuff Plus produces an extremely tearproof, waterproof, and chemical-resistant wristband. The addition of a new fold-over adhesive flap makes this band more secure than ever. The EnduriCuff Plus wristband requires no assembly, lamination, or clips — just print it and use it.

All the EnduriCuff wristbands are designed specifically to meet and exceed all current Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) recommendations. The EnduriCuff Plus wristband can accommodate multiple identifiers such as name, address, date of birth, etc. and crisp, highly legible bar codes. It is also color-capable to allow a patient's full-color photo in high resolution. The inclusion of a patient's photo includes the patient and family in the identification process and reduces the possibility of misidentification.

In addition to patient identifiers, the bands can also contain other types of healthcare information important at bedside, such as doctor name, patient-specific warnings, and color-coding.

A bar-coded patient wristband is the foundation upon which all the new bar code medication systems and patient tracking systems are based. And though many methods are used to apply bar codes to wristbands, very few allow much other information to be included. Fewer still are wristbands that allow direct color printing or photographs at high resolution. A patient photo is one of the most important identifiers available and can be far more accurate than other information, especially when the patient is unable to respond to questions for ID confirmation.

Endur ID approached its EnduriCuff Plus with several goals in mind. Foremost, the product had to improve patient safety through more identifiers, including a patient photo. Printing and applying the band had to be simple and efficient. The material and construction needed to be tough enough to withstand the rigors of a hospital environment, including showers, alcohol wipes, and other agents. Because patients are known to remove their bands, adding to patient safety issues, the band had to be difficult to remove without cutting.

According to Endur ID President Bob Chadwick, "The EnduriCuff Plus product has been developed by listening to hospital staff and administrators. We developed this band to be informative, tough, and easy to use without a great deal of capital investment. Patient identification should be a direct reflection upon the technology used in the care of a patient; the EnduriCuff Plus represents this."

The EnduriCuff Plus wristbands are available in standard two-up sheets, ready to print. Multiple wristbands produced at the same time allow the bands to travel with the patient's charts, making replacements available as needed.

The EnduriCuff Plus wristband can be easily adapted into most current patient identification systems without major investment. The only requirement is the ability to format patient information and print to an inkjet printer. For color photos, nearly any digital camera or video source can be used.

Source: www.endurid.com

Please send items for possible inclusion in Trends, to: Susan Carr Editor Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare susancarr@psqh.com Information for this section has been compiled from industry press releases.