Paxar launches a fully automated patient identification
system to improve patient safety

Patient misidentification is recognised as a widespread problem within acute hospital trusts. In response Paxar UK Ltd has announced the launch of its healthcare software solution - a fully automated patient identification and blood tracking system that improves patient safety – as well as reduces hospital running costs.

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has identified patient misidentification as a significant risk within the NHS. To improve patient safety Harlow-based Paxar has developed its healthcare software solution in conjunction with hospital trusts to offer a cost effective system that combines automated patient identification, fridge issue management and phlebotomy labelling.

Paxar’s system reliably and automatically matches patients with their care. It eliminates the possibility of serious complications and extended hospital stays that can result, for example, from incorrect blood or drugs being administered.

The NPSA’s study, ‘Right Patient – Right Care’, highlighted that of the eight million admissions to hospital in England each year about 850,000 result in patient safety incidents which cost the NHS about £2 billion in extra hospital days. By reducing the amount of extra hospital days hospitals can significantly reduce running costs.

“The NPSA welcomes and supports the use of technology to improve patient safety in blood transfusion and prevent mismatching,” said Professor Sir John Lilleyman, medical director at the NPSA. “We are aware of many examples of technology being used in the NHS in imaginative ways to match patients and care and welcome all such initiatives. SHOT (Serious Hazards of Transfusion) data shows that ABO incompatibility is the most important and high profile error occurring in blood transfusion, with the greatest number of incidents occurring during bedside checking.”

Fully automated patient identification is achieved with wristbands issued at the point of entry to a hospital that either contain a barcode or an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag. These contain information such as the patient’s name, hospital number, date of birth and gender.

The wristbands can then be read by handheld mobile computer terminals at any location or ward around the hospital that uses Paxar’s healthcare software solution. This eliminates the need for the manual identification of patients, which is often the root cause of patient identification errors.

Paxar’s system eliminates the possibility of wrong blood being given to a patient during transfusions. Bedside ‘identity’ checks can be carried out in real time and verified against patient records on the main hospital computer system to ensure that the right patient is getting the right blood.

Access to products held in fridges is also controlled via an automated process. Once a product has been requested, the fridge door is unlocked and the exact location of the product is displayed. The user will then be prompted to carry out a series of checks that verify that the correct product is removed. This information, along with the details of who has requested the product, is stored electronically – meeting the requirements of EU directives (2002/98/EC and 2004/33/EC), which were introduced in 2005.

Completing the solution developed by Paxar, a portable phlebotomy label printer is provided so blood samples can be labelled at the time of draw.

Paxar has designed its system to be straight-forward to install and uses a wireless network for maximum flexibility across wards. Information is transferred and patient records are updated in real time.

"EU legislation introduced into UK law during 2005 demanded that all blood products are tracked and recorded. Compliance with the directive is required by law but in fact it does not contribute to patient safety," said Brian Roberts, national account manager for Paxar's Healthcare Solutions division.

"Because our system is fully automated it eliminates the problem of misidentification and incorrect transfusion to improve patient safety significantly and cut hospital costs by reducing extra hospital days."