It has been revealed that the Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) has been handed an award in patient safety for its innovative electronic barcode scanner which is able to identify patients and request tests to be carried out.
The handheld system, which utilises the Positive Patient Identification (PPID) and the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) technologies, has been given the National Patient Safety award.
In the future it is expected to be used to electronically request that tests be conducted, helping to remove the clutter of paper records in hospital departments.
Despite encountering problems when it was first tested out last year, it is hoped that the ‘electronic radiology and laboratory medicine order communications system’ will be able to check patients in for appointments and remember their details too.
Dr Paul Altmann, the OUH’s chief clinical information officer, is proud of the barcode scanning design, which has won them the ‘Technology and IT to improve Patient Safety’ award.
He said:
“We are delighted to be recognised in this way, especially within six months of going live with the system.”
This just goes to show that barcode labels can be used in a range of different industries and for a variety of applications.