Healthcare IT News - March 2008 - (Page 35)

www.HealthcareITNews.com clinical toolkit March 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 35 Bar coding, RFID systems gain traction in healthcare Rather than choosing between two technologies, hospitals use a little of both. By John Andrews, Contributing Editor DECADE AGO, distribution expert Michael Marks told an audience of healthcare executives that the state of bar coding in hospitals consisted of “laser beams on one end and hand-written sticky notes on the other.” It was an accurate assessment of the convoluted healthcare logistics environment from the managing partner of the Melbourne, Fla.-based Indian River Consulting Group. Flash forward 10 years and the change is obvious. Hospitals have embraced automation for many core clinical and administrative functions and personnel are more comfortable using new technology today. Yet for some reason, bar coding and radio frequency identification system adoption remains curiously stuck in neutral, Marks said. “It isn’t that much different now than it was then,” he said. “The technology is there, but no one is doing anything about it. It’s a solution in search of a problem.” Bruce Wray, director of marketing for St. Paul, Minn.-based Computype, agrees that bar code adoption “still has a long way to go” in hospitals, but “many departments within many hospitals have adopted some form of bar code identification.” The trouble, as Wray sees it, is with how the technology has been adopted. “Automatic identification systems tend to a be ‘islands of automation’ and there is often no master plan to integrate bar code technology consistently throughout the facility,” he said. “While it’s fair to say that most hospitals and clinical labs use bar coding to some degree, strong emphasis must be placed on ‘to some degree.’” Meanwhile, asset-tracking systems need to evolve before hospitals commit to fullscale implementation, Wray added. “While it hasn’t reached its full potential, I don’t think you’ll see a lot of advancements in bar codes, such as new symbologies or giant leaps in bar code scanning technology,” he said. “The development of twodimensional symbologies and scanners over the past several years has made it possible to reliably encode a tremendous amount of information in a very limited space. I think that has been the most significant recent leap forward in bar codes.” Bar code crossroads Bar coding technology has an extensive history and it has been part of the mainstream in other industries for many years. For whatever reason, it hasn’t made the same inroads in healthcare. and now vendors are stepping back and reassessing the entire marketplace, said Bob Zink, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Newark, Calif.-based Socket Mobile. “In analyzing the healthcare market, almost everything is in transition,” he said. “Facilities are moving more and more into wireless networks and are investing in infrastructure for new technologies, whether it’s RFID, mobile devices, Bluetooth or even new diagnostics technology. We’re looking at how we fit in during this whole technology transition from a usability and productivity perspective.” Flexibility is the key to offering a product line that will attract users, Zink said. “Any enterprise will want to pilot and test various products from various vendors to determine which applications will bring them the best return on investment,” he said. “Our products are modular, so if they want bar code or linear imaging only, we can accommodate them; same for those who want a combination bar code and RFID. We see this as a strong growth pattern path.” The approach has resonated well with customers like Pittsburgh’s St. Clair Hospital, which straddles the line between bar codes and RFID. Medications are bar coded because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires it and because RFID is too expensive to use for dose-by-dose dispensation. Conversely, patient identification systems use radio frequency wristbands to prevent bedside medication errors. “Sometimes it makes sense to use bar code technology, while other times RFID makes sense,” said Tom Ague, COO and executive vice president of St. Clair, who believes the two technologies can easily co-exist. Some hospitals use bar-coding to handle medication dispensation and RFID wristbands to track patients. The two technologies can work side-by-side as hospitals look for the best avenue to manage their assets and keep track of everything from equipment to patients. not oBsolete yet While bar coding seems to be growing more antiquated by the moment, vendors like Computype are still committed to these systems for the foreseeable future, Wray said. “Our customers are drawn to bar codes for several simple but compelling reasons – low cost of implementation, ease of use and error-free data collection,” he said. “In the healthcare space, error reduction is absolutely critical, but don’t forget about the aspect of time savings as well. Life involves tradeoffs – do you want something done quickly or done correctly? With bar codes there is no tradeoff between speed and accuracy; you get it fast and you get it right.” ■ More at healthcareITnews.com e Connect: trackiNg 0308 ● Redeﬁning medical technology. 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Healthcare IT News - March 2008 Contents No. 1 E-prescribing ‘Quite Bright’ Bill Frist on IT Google Connection Poised for P4P ‘Smashing Success’ Tough On Fraud It's Analytics Getting Rid of the Pain Stuck In Neutral

Healthcare IT News - March 2008

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