A new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) describes the challenges and opportunities AHRQ grantees have faced in implementing or evaluating barcoding technologies to improve care for patients, increase efficiency, and contain costs.
According to the report, there are more than a million injuries and almost 100,000 deaths attributed to medical errors each year. Many of these errors occur in the dispensing, transcribing, and administering stages of the medication process. Barcode medication administration (BCMA) and electronic medication administration record (eMAR) technologies are two ways to improve inpatient medication safety by automating the process of medication checking and making the medication administration record electronic.
Although there is substantial evidence and industry support in favor of BCMA and eMAR, adoption in the United States is still low. Low adoption persists due in large part to the complexities associated with implementation. Experiences from the AHRQ projects should provide lessons learned to ease implementation for other organizations considering medication administration technologies.
Read the report.
