BOSTON – The use of barcode technology with an electronic medication administration record (eMAR) substantially reduces errors, including potential drug-related adverse events, according to a study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

The findings have important implications because barcode eMAR technology is being considered as a 2013 criterion for meaningful use of health information technology under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The study, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, was published in the May 6, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Our study shows that this combination of technologies can make the delivery of hospital care safer,” said lead study author Eric G. Poon, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “However, hospitals need the right set of resources and human talent to deploy these technologies successfully, so more research is needed to identify ways to implement them in the most cost-effective way.”

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital compared 6,723 medication administrations on hospital units before barcode eMAR was introduced with 7,318 medication administrations after barcode eMAR was introduced. Having barcode eMAR technology in place was associated with reductions in errors related to the timing of medications, such as giving a medicine at the wrong time, and non-timing medication administration, such as giving a patient the wrong dose.

The researchers documented a 41 percent reduction in non-timing administration errors and a 51 percent reduction in potential drug-related adverse events associated with this type of error.

Errors in the timing of medication administration, meaning a patient was given medication an hour or more off schedule, fell by 27 percent. No transcription errors or potential drug-related adverse events related to this type of error occurred.

“Medication errors in hospitals are a very serious issue and can often lead to patient harm,” said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, MD. “The good news from this study is that using barcode technology and an electronic medication administration record together can be an important intervention to help achieve medication safety.”