PDC Bar Code Tags and Wristbands
DANBURY HOSPITAL, DANBURY CONNECTICUT
 Danbury Hospital's (Danbury, CT) first priority is caring for patients and restoring them to health. Therefore, it is no surprise that positive patient identification takes precedence. And patient safety and quality patient care start with proper patient ID.
Enhancing its current system, Danbury implemented Precision Dynamics Corporation (PDC) Precision® Bar Code Tags in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Nursery.
Bar Codes Replace Manual Entry
Prior to using Precision Bar Code Tags, the baby's name and medical record number (MRN) were handwritten on pre-numbered wristbands and ankle bands; while parents received the corresponding pre-numbered wristbands. The easy-to-use bar code tags help prevent potential patient misidentification caused by illegible information on handwritten patient bands.
Since using Precision Bar Code Tags in the NICU and Nursery, the success rate for automatic uploading of POCT glucose test results to the correct patient record is consistently greater than 99%
— Mila Zielinski
POCT Coordinator, Danbury Laboratory
"The new infant Bar Code Tags thread onto the infant and parent wristbands for positive matching of baby to mother and father. The tags provide a large surface area for the bar code and other printed patient information," comments Kathy Halpin, IT Project Leader, Danbury Health Systems.
"When a baby is born and registered into our patient management system a set of four tags, two large and two small, are automatically printed," explains Halpin. "The small tags are placed on the baby's ankle to quickly identify the child. The baby's name, birth date, sex, MRN and unique bar coded patient number are printed in a legible format on the tags."
The large bar code tags slide onto the parent wristbands. For positive ID, these tags are printed with the mother's and baby's name along with the baby's MRN and unique bar coded patient number. The mother receives either a PDC Mother/Infant SnugFit® Wristband or PDC CompuBand® Bar Code Wristband at admissions.
 Bedside Point-of-Care & Patient ID
Precision Bar Code Tags allow healthcare personnel to instantly and accurately capture and verify data for medication administration, point-of-care testing (POCT), transfusion, specimen collection/tracking, surgical site safety and patient billing. Danbury uses the Bar Code Tags to help extend infant protection to bedside point-of-care glucose testing.
"Prior to implementing bar code tags, nurses would manually key in the 11-digit patient number or medical record number into the glucose meter, which was tedious and didn't allow results to be entered automatically into our electronic medical record (EMR)," explains Halpin.
"A pilot study we conducted indicated a tendency for errors associated with manual entry of the 11-digit patient ID number, and our POCT Committee decided not to implement automatic uploading to the glucose meter system until a reliable bar code wristband was in place," says Dr. Salvador Sena, director of the hospital’s clinical chemistry laboratory and chair of the hospital's POCT Committee.
“PDC met the challenge of finding an infant ID solution that is small and soft enough for our patients, acceptable to our clinical staff, and compatible with our printers.”
— Kathy Halpin
IT Project Leader, Danbury Health Systems
The unique bar code patient number on the tags allow nurses to match the glucose POCT results by scanning the patient bar code tag with the glucose meter which automatically uploads the results to the patient's laboratory and medical record.
Since using Precision Bar Code Tags in the NICU and Nursery, the success rate for automatic uploading of POCT glucose test results to the correct patient record is consistently greater than 99%, according to Mila Zielinski, POCT Coordinator in the hospital’s laboratory. Test results and trends can now be viewed and analyzed on the EMR.
"PDC met the challenge of offering an infant ID solution that is small and soft enough for our patients, acceptable to our clinical staff, and compatible with our printers," said Halpin.
Auto ID for Medication Administration
The success of the glucose POCT and patient matching led the laboratory to implement the same efficient system for phlebotomy draws using the patient bar code tag at the bedside. Danbury plans to use the tags to maximize patient safety for medication administration. For instance, the labels on the IV bags will contain the patient’s unique bar coded number.
PDC bar code solutions help healthcare professionals achieve the “Five Rights of Medication Safety” by accurately matching the right patient to the right drug, dose, time, and route. The bar code tags also meet the requirements of JCAHO for positive patient ID, HIPAA for protection of patient safety, and AHA to reduce risk of lost or transferred data.
 About Danbury Hospital
For 120 years, Danbury Hospital's mission in western Connecticut and nearby New York has been to advance the health and well-being of people in the community. Danbury Hospital has emerged as a regional medical center with centers of excellence in cardiovascular, cancer, digestive disorders, orthopedic, bariatric (weight loss surgery), high-risk pregnancy and neonatal medicine. The Hospital is a University Teaching Hospital of New York Medical College and ranked among the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® for its better patient safety, lower length of stay and higher rate of growth and responsiveness to the community, when compared to its peer teaching hospitals.
Precision Dynamics Corporation®, Precision® Bar Code Tag, SnugFit®, and CompuBand® are registered trademarks of Precision Dynamics Corporation. All other product names, company names, marks, logos and symbols mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners
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