Barcode Technology in Healthcare Systems Enhancing Medication Safety Accuracy Efficiency and Error Reduction

Medication Dispensing causes serious issues resulting impacts to patient safety, overall financial cost and unintended consequences.  Barcode Technology presents as a viable solution to overcome this problem. This review analyzes the benefits and challenges of barcode system usage in Pharmacy Settings. The important usage of  Barcode Medication Administration (BCMA) leads to “five rights” of administration of medications and management of inventory so that the inventory levels and compliance are accurately managed. With the integration of wristbands and electronic health records, studies suggest that there is a reduction of 56% of medication errors. With barcode systems, processes get automated, manual documentation gets reduced, customer support calls get reduced thereby bringing efficiency into the system. In spite of technological advancements, technical issues, gaps in interoperability, human factors such as fatigue, staff resistance and pursuing shortcuts exist. Variations of compliance and merging electronic records create additional challenges. Technologies incorporating RFID, analytics and mobile device scanning have shown promises of better usage and scaling. The barcode technology presents a solution in patient safety and quality patient care. Organizations should take steps to foster barcode technologies in pharmacies. Upcoming research should study long term solutions, financial impacts and usage in constrained settings to realize the full potential of technology.