Healthcare  Market Recommended Products

Traditionally, the healthcare industry has been slow to adapt to new technologies; however, this trend has been changing recently due to an increased understanding of how AIDC technology benefits the industry.

Within the healthcare industry four sub-industries can benefit from AIDC technology:

• Pharmaceuticals
• Patient Care
• Hospitals
• Life Sciences 

Datalogic Scanning understands the healthcare industry is unique from other industries using AIDC in that the primary purpose for use is not improved inventory control, asset tracking, and data management. While these benefits are ultimately realised by all industries using AIDC, the ultimate purpose for healthcare's utilisation is always patient safety. For example, patient safety can be improved by the use of AIDC technology by helping to uncover counterfeit drugs in pharmacies.

Datalogic's industry knowledge and vast experience with AIDC technology are the best choice for healthcare providers because Datalogic knows that errors are not an option. All Datalogic products are held to industry-leading quality and reliability standards.

Healthcare and Bar Code Scanning

Bar coding is currently the most widely used form of AIDC technology in today's healthcare industry. Datalogic bar code scanners can be used for many different applications to prevent medical errors.

Some of these applications are:

• Medication management systems – delivering the right drug, to right person, at the right time

• Drug identification – bar coding can help eliminate counterfeit or expired drugs from being distributed
Infusion safety – one of the most common medical mistakes is incorrect infusions, bar coding blood and other products helps eliminate this mistake

• Patient identification – makes sure the right patient is receiving the right treatments

• Specimen collection – ensures correct patient receives right analysis

• Laboratory work – guarantees that the right tests are performed

• The benefits bar codes offer healthcare entities are impossible to ignore. There is a trend of adopting 2D bar codes in the healthcare industry in order to store more information.

General Purpose Handhelds

• Magellan 1400i: On-Counter Presentation Omnidirectional Bar Code Reader  
• Magellan 1000i: On-Counter Presentation Omnidirectional Bar Code Reader  
• Gryphon I GD4100 General Purpose Corded Handheld Linear Imager Bar Code Reader  
• Gryphon Desk General Purpose Corded Handheld Linear Imager Bar Code Reader  
• Gryphon Desk 2D Plus General Purpose Corded Handheld Area Imager Bar Code Reader  
• QuickScan QS6500 General Purpose Corded Handheld Linear Imager Bar Code Reader  
• QuickScan QS6500BT General Purpose Handheld Linear Imager Bar Code Reader with Bluetooth® Wireless Technology  
• QuickScan Mobile QM2100 General Purpose Handheld Linear Imager Bar Code Reader with Datalogic's STAR Cordless System™  
• QuickScan I QD2100 General Purpose Corded Handheld Linear Imager Bar Code Reader  
• QuickScan L General Purpose Corded Handheld Laser Bar Code Reader 

Case Study - Apoteket

In Sweden, Apoteket is the sole retailer for medicinal products. That goes for both prescription and over-the-counter medicine. Apoteket is owned by the state and is non profit-orientated. This means that the foremost task is to ensure that each patient gets the right medication or self-medication product needed, in the right quantity and at the right time. It also means that all medications can be obtained, without variations in price, anywhere in Sweden.

Apoteket has 28 production facilities that fill prescriptions to more than 150,000 patients who reside in special care housing such as retirement homes. Most of these patients are upwards of 65 years old. Apoteket bought 100 Gryphon™ hand-held scanners, both cordless and tethered, from Datalogic that are used at these various production facilities.

The decision was made to invest in new scanners based on the fact that Apoteket was having problems with the reading range of the cordless scanners they were using at the time. The Gryphon™ instinctive hand-held reader was chosen over scanners from their previous supplier primarily because of its ergonomics - it is lightweight and feels good in the hand.

“For those who work in production, ergonomics is very important,” says Peter Skarin, Technical Manager at Apoteket RE Dos. “Ergonomics, together with good performance, are the crucial factors that make it smart to use bar codes in our production.”

The hand-held reader is used to read the bar code on each type of medicine (each article number) in the production of individual dose packaging. This is to make certain that the right medicine is put into the right package.

At the production facility in Solna, Sweden, individual doses are packaged in bags and trays for about 8000 patients in all. It is most common that the patients get their medications filled for two-week periods. Every order is entered into the computer system where it is then checked by the pharmacist to verify that it is correct. In the cases where the order is thought to be incorrect, the pharmacist checks with the special care facility that placed the order and the doctor who wrote the prescription.

The order then moves into production where the medicine is packaged in individual bags or trays according to the prescription. The most common medications are kept in large machines that portion out the right medicine in right dose. Other medicines are kept in small boxes that are each marked with a bar code which is read by the Gryphon™ hand held reader each time a prescription is filled. When a prescription is filled that is not one of the more common medications, it is done manually by a pharmacist and an assistant.

Before the order is sent away to the special care facility, it is checked by several inspectors. The number of tablets is counted in each bag and tray. The percentage of mistakes is very low and those that are found to be incorrectly counted are rectified here, which means that when the order leaves Apoteket, it is accurate.

The Gryphon™ instinctive bar code reader serves an important function in this whole process, which ensures that each patient gets the right dose of his or her necessary medication.