Information Systems Evolution Paper

Health care is one of the many industries that use bar codes for efficiency. Bar codes are used in the health care industry to manage and maintain patient’s records, track medical supplies, check the status of medical equipment, and to manage data quickly and accurately. Since the use of bar codes in the health care industry, there have been studies, has shown bar codes reduce medical errors. Bar code has been around since 1952 and has helped every industry become more efficient in collecting and tracking services and products.

Milestones

On many products today people do not relies the importance of a bar code on items. One might even ask what is a bar code. A bar code is a way to track information data automatically by identifying the numbers on the UPC. In 1948, Bernard Silver was a graduate at Drexel Institute of Technology and a food store owner asked the university to research a way to of automatically read product information during checkout (About, n.d.).

• October 20, 1949, Woodland and Silver filed their patent application for the “Classifying Apparatus and Method.”

• October 7, 1952 inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver were the recipient of the first patent for bar coding.

• Commercially in 1966, bar codes were used.

• 1970, the Universal Grocery Products Identification Code (UGPIC) was written by a company called Logicon Inc.

• In 1970, Monarch Marking was the first to use bar coding in the retail industry. UGPIC turned into the UPC symbol set or Universal Product Code, which is still used in the United States.

• In 1973 George J. Laurer invented the first UPC or Uniform Product Code.

• June of 1974, the first UPC scanner was installed at Marsh's supermarket in Troy, Ohio. Wrigley's gum was one of the first items to receive a bar code on a product.

• In 1983, HIBCC was approved to mandate the health care industry: Develop a uniform bar code labeling standard for products shipped to hospitals (Rosistem, n.d.).

• In 1988, the European Health Industry Business Communications Council (EHIBCC) was formed to serve as a partner to HIBCC and administer the standard in Europe.

Bar Codes

Health care uses bar coding in the industry has its most is used technology. In the health care industry bar codes are used in numerous applications throughout the health sector. One of the many uses are in medication management, which uses bar codes to decrease errors when distributing medication to patients. Bar codes on medications delivers the right medication, to the right patient, on time. Bar codes have been used for drug indentification to help find counterfeit or expired drugs. In health care most of the mistakes are from wrong infusions, blood and other products help reduce this error. Identifying the patient to make sure the right he or she is receiving the correct treatment. Specimen collection ensures the right patient receives the correct analysis. Laboratory works to ensure the correct test are done properly. Surgical instrument sterilization with small bar codes for health care professionals to check to see if the medical equipment been sterilized (Industry, n.d.). The benefits of using bar codes are very important to health care organizations. Many errors is caused by receiving the patient’s identification incorrectly and have cost the U.S. millions of dollars.

Bar codes are used in the health care industry for error free tracking, validating, documenting, and billing. Bar codes provide 99.9% percent accuracy by eliminating human errors when using data entry (Ezinearticles, n.d.). Bar codes are accurate in tracking patient's order of tests’ results, and medical reports. This is to ensure that these items are assigned with a barcode having the required details. Error free documentation and reporting eliminate potential errors ensuring patient's safety. A patients data is very important in the health care industry, if the data in incorrect it can be fatal for the patient. In the health care industry most of the mistakes come from incorrect infusions. Having a bar code on the infusion bags or device reduces the human error and gives the right patient, then right dosage of medication that the patient needs... In the health care industry today bar codes are widely used. Bar codes are easy to use, fast, and effective. Patient’s data can be accessed quickly and effectively using barcodes. Tracking real time data and receiving timely feedback health care professionals can make decision quickly and improve patient’s health.

References

About, (n.d.). Bar Codes. Retrieved January 25, 2010 from

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbar_code.htm

Ezinearticles, (n.d.). Role of Barcodes in Health care Industry. Retrieved January 25, 2010 from

http://ezinearticles.com/?Role-of-Barcodes-in-Healthcare-Industry&id=3010535

Industry, (n.d.). Health care and Bar Code Scanning for pharmaceuticals, Life Sciences, Patient

Care and Hospital Applications. Retrieved January 25, 2010 from

http://www.idshealthcare.com/hospital_management/global/datalogic/barcoding_scannin g/2846_0/b_supplier.html