BCMA Lessons Learned in December Issue of PPN
January 3, 2011 | In: Healthcare Barcoding Influencers
BCMA Lessons Learned
Early adopters of medication safety technology offer implementation tips
by Liz Parks
When implemented successfully, a bar code medication administration system (BCMA) can improve patient safety and reduce overall costs. However, although BCMA is very valuable and has afforded early adopters significant safety benefits, the road to safety is not always a simple one, according to presentations during a recent webinar sponsored by the health information technology (IT) consulting firm Technical Education Solutions (TES).
“A lot of folks will say that since we have been doing bar coding in grocery stores forever, why is it so difficult in health care,” noted Mike Wisz, president of the Mike Wisz Associates, a company with more than 17 years of experience with health care information systems. “But a hospital is not a grocery store. Scanning medications is not like scanning a bag of M&Ms. In a hospital, we are scanning each individual M&M, some of which have been repackaged and labeled and we’re tracking and measuring many different things. So a hospital is a much different environment.”
Read the full article at PharmacyPracticeNews.com