Veterans Administration Hospital - Bar Codes For All Inpatients

Implementation of this bar code documentation of medication administration at the bedside has resulted in a 50%-75% reduction in the medication error rate at most VA Medical Centers.

Situation

Medication dispensing errors can be life threatening. According to a recent Institute of Medicine article, almost 98,000 deaths occurred in the United States each year due to medical mistakes caused by medication errors. While the nation is experiencing severe shortages in nursing staff, errors can unfortunately be more prevalent. Applying technology to a systematic process can help alleviate inaccuracies and, more importantly, help save lives.

Solution

In 1999, the Veterans Administration (VA) developed a program to place barcodes on dose packages, IV Admixtures, and other small syringes for injection. This program was completed at the end of 2000 / beginning of 2001 and is currently in use in 172 facilities with 30,000 beds. Automating this process has improved the safety of the administration of drugs by ensuring the right drug gets to the right patient at the right time. The Veterans Administration won the Pinnacle award from The American Pharmacy Association Foundation in 2002 for developing this program.

Better Health & Lower Costs

Implementation of this bar code documentation of medication administration at the bedside has resulted in a 50% to 75% reduction in the medication error rate at most Veterans Administration Medical Centers.