Beloit Memorial Hospital Reports 67 Percent Reduction in Medication Errors Using Care Fusion's Wireless Barcode Solution

MCLEAN, Va. -- Beloit Memorial Hospital, a 175-bed

community hospital located in Beloit, Wisc., has reduced medication

administration errors by 67 percent since implementing Care Fusion's

wCareMed, a wireless mobile barcode medication administration solution.

This dramatic decrease in reported errors is consistent with findings of other

hospitals that have adopted barcode technology for medication administration.

"We have been up and running for several months and the early data shows

that we are meeting our goals and have dramatically decreased medication

errors," says Doris Mulder, RN, vice president of nursing at Beloit Memorial

Hospital. "We are excited about going forward with not only medication

administration but other Care Fusion applications as well."

Care Fusion has developed a full suite of wireless, mobile barcode enabled

technology solutions designed to improve patient safety by reducing medical

errors. Care Fusion's hand-held units scan a patient's barcode identifier

ensuring accuracy of medication administration, specimen collection, blood

transfusions and patient information charting.

"To truly impact patient safety, a wireless barcode system must support

all of the patient care needs throughout the healthcare organization," says

Kenneth Tighe, Care Fusion CEO. "We've created a full

array of wireless mobile patient care solutions that use one device, one

database, all available from one vendor, providing hospitals with a

comprehensive suite of modular solutions to reduce medical errors."

Care Fusion has been developing wireless barcode solutions over the past

three years and has worked closely with the Veterans Administration, an early

leader in adopting barcode technology for healthcare. In developing its

solutions, Care Fusion has partnered with industry leaders including Symbol

Technologies, Data Trend Technologies, Xybernaut and Iatric Systems to insure

excellence in design and implementation.

Care Fusion's solutions eliminate the need for caregivers to spend time

searching through paper or downloading information. Patient information

entered into the hand-held unit is immediately sent to a secure server where

it can be viewed by other caregivers in the system. Healthcare decisions can

then be made using real-time information. Caregivers appreciate the simplicity of a wireless system. Instead of connecting to a system or returning to a central area to download information, caregivers can focus their attention on the patient. And since patient information is never stored on the hand-held device, patient confidentiality

is not compromised.

Flexibility was a key consideration for Beloit Memorial Hospital when

implementing Care Fusion's wCareMed. While the organization opted to take

a phased approach to implementing barcode technology, they didn't have to wait

to see results. They achieved the 67 percent medication administration error

reduction in the first four months of use in their Family Care Center

(OB/GYN/nursery) and will be expanding Care Fusion's products throughout the

hospital. "We are currently planning to apply this same technology to lab

collections, radiology exams, blood administration, and dialysis. Our overall

goal is to increase safety for our patients to the highest possible level and

Care Fusion is an effective partner in this initiative," says Mulder.

Stopping a medical error before it happens protects more than a single

patient. Each error detected is an opportunity to get to the root cause of

why mistakes happen. "For every prevented error there is a patient who won't

have to experience unnecessary pain, injury or inconvenience," says Tighe,

"but the long-term benefit of this technology is that organizations can fix

the processes that allow errors in the first place."

Care Fusion is a leading provider of barcode enabled positive patient

identification systems that support the clinical workflow of nursing,

laboratory and blood bank personnel.

Source: Care Fusion