Financial sustainability. Digital transformation. Regulatory compliance. These are all hot topics when healthcare leaders collaborate with stakeholders – such as technology providers, suppliers and government – in pursuit of a sustainable, smart health community. However, one driving factor always tops the agenda: patient care.
The first key step on the road to an optimal patient outcome is positive patient identification. Hospitals need to ensure the right patient is transported to the right place at the right time, that the patient receives the right treatment and that the whole patient journey is fully documented. The easiest and, arguably, most cost-efficient way to accomplish this goal is with the use of wristbands.
How Wristbands Help to Improve Patient Care
As a best practice, it is recommended that patients receive a wristband with a unique barcode upon admission to your hospital. This barcode enables you to make patient-specific information such as a name, date of birth, medical number, previous conditions and allergies accessible to all who will interact with patients during their hospital stay. This barcode can be scanned via enterprise-grade handheld mobile computers or rugged tablets during:
As The Hexagone Neuilly Group has successfully demonstrated, the technologies that comprise patient identification systems are often very versatile. Their use can (and should) extend far beyond patient-focused applications. There are many cases in which the same technologies used in the above three examples are also used to digitalise and/or streamline:
Together with the right software, hardware solutions that include wristbands, mobile computers, scanners, tablets and/or printers ensure insurance and regulatory compliance, streamline asset traceability, reduce errors and drive efficiencies and cost savings for the healthcare sector. They also deliver actionable intelligence and clinical evidence of the long-term suitability of implants or medication per demographic, which is a critical step forward on the road to the sustainable, smart health community that governments, patients, healthcare providers and Zebra collectively envision for the future. But, if we are to achieve that end goal, one priority should remain constant at the heart of every healthcare system: optimal front-line patient care, of which wristbands (and patient ID systems) are a fundamental building block.
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Editor’s note:
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Wayne is the Zebra lead for Healthcare solutions and works to directly improve patient care, supporting partners and end users. Delivering the latest solutions that assist hospitals and healthcare organizations to deliver efficiencies and improve patient care and outcomes. Wayne has worked for Zebra Technologies for 17 years and has a true passion for healthcare, technology and innovation.