Using bar-code point-of-care technology for patient safety.

Patient safety, in particular, medication safety, has become a major issue for healthcare providers, payers, and patients. Medication errors occur at an alarming rate, and the majority of non-intercepted medication errors originate at the point of care when a nurse mistakenly administers a medication. The 1999 Institute of Medicine report called for increasing the use of information technology to reduce medication errors. Realizing a 59% to 70% decrease in medication administration errors on individual nursing units, this hospital demonstrates how bar code point-of-care medication administration systems successfully track, reduce, and prevent bedside medication errors while having a positive effect on nursing satisfaction.