Cardinal Health Launches Innovative Barcode Administration to Help Hospitals Bridge Medication Safety Gaps
New Orleans— At the 46th Annual Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), Cardinal Health launched BarCode360, a solution that supports hospitals’ medication safety initiatives by making it easier, more timely and cost efficient to order medications and ensure more unit-dose medications can be scanned at the patient bedside.
ASHP has set a goal for 75% of U.S. hospitals to fully implement barcode medication administration (BCMA) by 2014[1], because this process can prevent medication errors by alerting nurses if they are attempting to administer the wrong medication, at the wrong dose, to the wrong patient or at the wrong time.
BarCode360 supports hospital BCMA initiatives by making it easier and more time efficient to ensure more medications are barcoded and packaged at the unit dose level, and scanned at the patient bedside.
Key benefits of BarCode360 include:
- A unique portal that seamlessly integrates the ordering process for all scan-ready medications, including those that are barcoded and packaged by the manufacturer, by Cardinal Health Repackaging Services and by third-party repackagers.
- Using current product identifiers, BarCode360 synchronizes the hospital’s product master as nurses scan medications and administer them to patients. This ensures that dispensing machines are appropriately stocked, based on real-time medication information. It also helps hospitals improve the number of medications that are scanned at the patient bedside and reduces nurse overrides.
- BarCode360’s data synchronization also helps hospitals improve revenue capture by tracking and billing each medication specifically to the patient to whom it was administered. It helps hospitals contain costs by increasing billing and barcode database accuracy and by reducing the resources involved in repackaging medications on-site.
- BarCode360 can help improve hospital pharmacy operations and staff efficiency by reducing the resources assigned to the daily management of the barcode database, by reducing the time and resources devoted to on-site repackaging and by ensuring that medications are available when needed, at the floor level.
- Because it integrates with each hospital’s current technology platforms, BarCode360 requires no capital expenditure.
“BarCode360 goes beyond barcoding and packaging to bridge the gaps in BCMA to help hospitals optimize patient safety while also improving efficiency,” said Jon Giacomin, president, U.S. Pharmaceutical Distribution, Cardinal Health. “Our team is committed to collaborating with each hospital’s pharmacy, nursing and IT teams to successfully and efficiently integrate BarCode360— so our customers can focus on what matters most— enhancing patient safety.”
About Cardinal Health
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $103 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices focus on patient care while reducing costs, enhancing efficiency and improving quality. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products to more than 60,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operating the nation’s largest network of radio pharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #19 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at cardinalhealth.com and @CardinalHealth on Twitter.