Keeping Our Patients Safe One Barcode at a Time

4 MIN READ

Every nurse dreads receiving a call from the lab telling them a specimen was mislabeled. How do you keep patient satisfaction high when you have to stick the patient again to re-draw blood or ask them for another sample? And think of the risks and consequences! Treatment delays, failure to provide proper care or providing inappropriate care, transfusion errors or reactions, misdiagnosis, increased patient anxiety or mistrust, and increased costs for both the patient and facility are a few. And no one likes the inevitable call from their manager asking why the mislabeling occurred. Avoid these risks and anxieties using the newest innovation at Houston Methodist Hospital: barcode scanning for specimen collection.

Barcode scanning for specimen collections is an essential practice for reducing and eliminating errors. For years, nurses have checked two hospital-approved patient identifiers to verify their identity while comparing them to the patient's armband. Yet errors can occur. Examples include mismatching patient identification criteria, failure to affix proper labels immediately after collection, and using temporary labels. Something as simple as scanning the patient's armband before printing the label or collecting the specimen can help prevent these errors.

Barcode scanning is a relatively simple process. Combining this with a wireless label printer at the bedside allows the nurse to complete all the steps while in the patient's room. Basic steps of the process:

Collect the supplies you will need, including the wireless label printer, handheld scanner or Rover, and specimen collection equipment.
When you select Print Label in EPIC, you will be prompted to scan the patient's armband.
After the label(s) print, collected the specimen, apply the labels correctly to the specimen container(s).
Return to EPIC and select Collect, and you will be prompted to scan the label(s).

For complete step-by-step instructions for barcode scanning, please follow up with your manager.

While this is a relatively new process, the impact of ensuring patient safety is immense. Thank you for helping to make this change!