Patient safety through active identification

Growing demand für medical services, rising cost pressure, ecological responsibility and the special requirement of reconciling patient saftey with operational economy pose serious challenges to many hospitals.

Many hospitals and clinics see themselves confronted with a difficult situation. While demand for medical services is increasing and possibilities for patient treatment are steadily improving, medical facilities are put under enormous pressure in order to remain within budget. Parallel to this, the smooth and secure running of a hospital is taken for granted.

Certainly the most important task which hospitals have to master in harmony with long-term and sustainable development is the safeguarding of patient safety.   However, as explained in the brochure entitled "Learning from Mistakes" recently published by Aktionsbündnis Patientensicherheit e.V. (Patient Safety Action Alliance Society), mistakes and near-mistakes cannot be excluded on account of the complex and rapid sequence of events which often characterises procedures in both medicine and care. However it is important that mistakes and near-mistakes are recorded in order to achieve even more effective prevention of risks and errors and to improve patient safety accordingly.

This process is actively supported by the Patient Safety Action Alliance Society, which is made up of representatives from the health professions, professional associations and patients' organisations, through the publication of treatment recommendations on the improvement of patient safety. Today, solutions for the secure and unmistakeable identification of patients play an especially important role in achieving improved patient safety. 

Active enhancement of patient safety

In contrast to that adopted in many other European countries, the approach to the topic of patient safety in Germany is still restrained. Here, modern patient wristband solutions, in which patient data such as surname, first name, date of birth and patient ID are printed on the wristband, contribute to the avoidance of identity mix-ups and the enhancement of patient safety, in particular prior to the administering of drugs and blood preparations and before any surgical intervention or other therapeutic measures.

Furthermore, these systems can be easily established in any hospital without significant technical effort or financial expense. Competitive advantages and improved processes are positive side-effects of ID-wristband patient identification. On the one hand, patient wristbands communicate to the patient a feeling of security and of being in good hands, and on the other hand, in the context of competition with other medical facilities, the introduction and use of patient-identification systems can be put forward as an attractive benefit in hospital marketing.

In addition, patient-wristband solutions which incorporate the printing of patient data directly from the hospital information system offer potential for optimising processes. In this way, for example, point-of-care services can be provided directly at the hospital bed and through the use of a barcode on the patient wristband be unmistakably assigned to the electronic patient case file.

For further information on the topic of patient safety: 

 > Patient safety brochure: "Learning from mistakes (German)" (pdf)

 > Patient safety: Recommended Action for Patient Identification (German) (pdf)