Quality Products & Resources

This column provides healthcare quality professionals with announcements of new products, with company contact information, and of recently released media, with ordering and Internet access information. It also gives up-to-the-minute descriptions of resources of interest to healthcare quality professionals as they navigate the constant flood of information.

Products

Automated printing and labeling system
Integrated Healthcare Systems, Inc. (IHS) and RoboDesign International, Inc., have partnered to develop an automated device for IHS's barcode labeling system for pharmaceutical medications.

The IHS barcode labeling system is an integral component of IHS's Barcode to Dose™ system. This method of tracking medications ensures that 100% of doses that are dispensed from a pharmacy include a barcode taken to a patient's bedside. The barcode labeling system provides an affordable and accurate automated process for labeling vials, ampoules, syringes, IV bags, ointments, creams, and other medications.

For more information, visit www.ihsystems.net.

Patient identification system
BD Medical Systems has announced the availability of the BD.id™ Patient Identification System. The BD.id system is designed to improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs by decreasing the potential for medical errors that can occur during diagnostic testing.

The BD.id system contains a handheld computer with a built-in scanner. Prior to collecting a specimen, the system identifies the healthcare professional by scanning a user identification badge. Once confirmed, the barcode on the patient's wristband is also scanned, at bedside, to confirm that the right patient is receiving the correct tests.

The BD.id system then matches the specimen collection orders stored in the handheld computer with the information scanned from the patient's wristband and confirms the specimen container is the correct one for the tests that were ordered. Anew barcode label for the specimen container is printed at the patient's bedside with the time and date of collection. When the device is returned to its cradle, the BD.id system synchronizes with the laboratory information system and confirms that the correct collection from the patient was completed.

For more information, visit www.bd.com.

Resources

Summit report on information technology and healthcare quality
National Quality Forum (NQF) has published the "Information Technology and Healthcare Quality" summit report. The National Summit on Information Technology and Healthcare Quality held in March 2002 was co-sponsored by the NQF and the Institute of Medicine. The summary provides an executive summary, common themes identified during the summit and workgroup discussions, which include information standardization, architecture and infrastructure, funding and incentives, and governance.

The report is available online at http://www.qualityforum.org/txITSummitFINALPUBLICprint.pdf.

CDC report on major trends and shifts in healthcare
The report titled "Healthcare in America: Trends in Utilization" presents trends over the past 10 years in utilization of healthcare services from ambulatory care, inpatient care, nursing homes, home healthcare, and hospice care. The report integrates data from the National Health Care Survey and is organized around topics such as the aging of the U.S. population, supply of healthcare providers, and changes in technology.

For additional information, contact NCHS/CDC Public Affairs 301/458-4800 or go to http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/releases/04facts/healthcare.htm.

Processing home care electronic certificate of medical necessity (eCMNs)
The American Association for Homecare and Trac Medical Solutions, Inc. have entered an agreement to provide a new technology architecture for the processing of electronic certificates of medical necessity and other health care forms. This eCMN solution provides a Quality Products & Resources Journal for Healthcare Quality 54 Compiled by Deborah A. Dowling, MPH BSN CPHQ cost-effective alternative to the paper healthcare claim submission process.

For additional information, contact Trac Medical Solutions, Inc 2165 Technology Drive, Schenectady, NY 12308 800/367-5906.

Responding to Im-patient Voices
The Institute for Health Care Improvement published seven challenges for organizations to redesign the patient experience. Along with the seven challenges there is an invitation to join the online community; to www.qualityhealthcare.org and choose Discussion Groups and Patient Centeredness from the list of options. The challenges range from giving medical records to patients at no cost to implementation of shared decision-making processes for conditions such as prostatic hypertrophy and breast cancer. These challenges were presented at the plenary presentation of the IHI National Forum of Healthcare Quality Improvement on December 4, 2003.

For additional information, visit www.qualityhealthcare.org.

Issues of Quality in Home and Community-Based Care
The AHCA Health Services Research and Evaluation provided a summary of quality in Home and Community-Based Care on September 15, 2003. The article outlines monitoring of quality of care, staffing, the process of service delivery, and movement toward more consumer-directed care in HCBS settings.

The full text can be found at http://www.ahca.org/research/hcbs_qualityfactsheet_030915.pdf.

Barcodes on hospitaladministered drugs and blood products
To improve patient safety and reduce preventable medication errors, the Food and Drug Administration has issued a final rule requiring barcodes on hospitaladministered drugs, biologicals, and blood products. Numerous studies have demonstrated barcoded medications in care settings go a long way toward guaranteeing the critical "five rights"—the right patient, the right drug, the right dosage, the right time, and the right route of administration. The rule was published in the February 26, 2004 Federal Register and can be accessed at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a040226c.html or directly at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-4249.pdf.

Medicare home care services
The Beacon Guide to Medicare Service Delivery is published by Beacon Resource Group, Inc 12308 N. Corporate Parkway, Suite 100, Mequon, WI 53092-3380. Chapters outline the basics of Medicare services delivery, OASIS fundamentals, compliance and care delivery, prospective payment, and documentation.

For additional information contact Beacon Health at 262/243-6100.

Deborah A. Dowling is the senior director of quality management at Randolph Hospital, Asheboro, NC. She also is a member of the JHQ Review Panel.