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PROVIDENCE SEASIDE HOSPITAL INSTALLS
SYSTEM TO INCREASE PATIENT SAFETY
February 21, 2008
SEASIDE, Ore. - It's a bar code like what you see in the grocery store, but those vertical black lines have the power to increase patient safety when caregivers are administering medication. Providence Seaside Hospital has instituted a new bar-coding system designed to identify a patient's medication more accurately and safely.
"From a nursing perspective, medication administration is a very complex process," says Vickie Condon, B.S.N, M.P.A., assistant administrator for patient care. "We are often giving medications in a very distracting environment. This new system improves our ability to ensure that we are always giving the right medications at the right time."
When patients are admitted to Providence Seaside Hospital, they receive a bar-coded medical identification bracelet that, when scanned, links to their computerized medical records. The medications also have a bar code, which is scanned before medication is given to a patient. That way if the doctor changes or discontinues a medication, the nurse will know automatically -- right at the bedside.
The bar codes allow the medical team -- doctors, pharmacists and nurses -- to get a full medical history of the patient, any lab results or allergies pertinent to the medication, further ensuring patient safety.
Like other Providence Health & Services hospitals that have implemented this system, Providence Seaside already has had excellent results with the bar-coding program. This system-wide program provides a seamless care experience for patients, with enhanced medication safety for patients who transfer among other Providence hospitals.
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Whether you are fortunate enough to live or vacation on the North Oregon Coast, you always have access to some of the finest medical care available. With clinics conveniently located in Cannon Beach, Seaside and coming soon to Warrenton (Spring 2008), and our hospital in Seaside, we have long been an important part of the community.
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