Hi All....
Below is a link to an interesting commentary posted on Wachter's World
by Dr. Bob Wachter describing (in his opinion) why barcode point of care
solutions should be implemented before CPOE. The commentary indicates
that ""ultimately we need both bar coding and CPOE, and we need rigorous
studies looking at what works and what doesn't. But you have to start
somewhere. Even though the evidence continues to trail, based on what I
know today, if I was a hospital ready to get into the IT game, I'd go
with bar coding first.""
Links to recent high publicity medical errors are provided such as:
* Linda McDougal's unnecessary mastectomy because of a path lab mix-up
http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/01/20/medical.mistake/index.html
* Dennis Quaid's twins' massive heparin overdose
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312357,00.html
NBC's Today Show
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23879125#23879125
* the fatal error in Madison (http://www.the-hospitalist.org/blogs/wachters_world/archive/2007/11/05/
when-is-a-medical-error-a-crime.aspx ) in which a nurse infused an
epidural anesthetic intravenously into a pregnant woman. It hadn't
dawned on me previously, but all of these cases represent identification
errors that probably would have been prevented by a decent bar coding
system.
http://www.the-hospitalist.org/blogs/wachters_world/archive/2008/05/02/should-a-hospital-install-bar-coding-or-cpoe-first-why-i-ve-changed-my-tune.aspx
Rob
SIEMENS Medical Solutions
Rob Christiansen, R.Ph., MBA
Marketing and Business Manager, Pharmacy Solutions
Clinical Solutions Marketing
HS Global CRM
Mail Code A01
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E-Mail: Robert.Christiansen@siemens.com
