University of Vermont Medical Center taps RFID to boost medication safety
University of Vermont Medical Center, an academic medical center in Burlington, has tracked more than 5 million medications using radio frequency identification.
The RFID technology is part of the hospital's real-time location system, and it enables healthcare providers and staff to track the medication intake by patients at the bedside.
The system has helped care providers dispense medicine to patients in a timely way, and also to eliminate errors.
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Patient safety and improved monitoring were the key motivating factors for adopting the technology, UVMC Chief Medical Informatics Officer Adam Buckley, MD, said in a statement.
"It's cutting down on medication errors, ensuring that medications are given in a timely fashion, and it's a great way to leverage technology and systems to help address human factor issues."
Buckley explained that UVMC operation rooms receive individual kits dispensed to the anesthesiologist for each case. Since the RFID technology was installed, it has been largely successful in ruling out any possibility of human error, he said.
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After the pharmacy receives medications that are to be placed into the kits, technicians enter essential information, such as the type of drug, quantity, lot number, and expiration date, into a software system. The RFID tags containing the information are printed and used for labeling the drugs.
Twitter: @Bernie_HITN
Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com
