Code Blue for Bar Codes At US Hospitals

Let's 'faint' by numbers today.

According to a 1999 research survey, how many people in America were killed by medication errors? Answer: more than 7,000, and that was a long time ago!

How many hospitals exist in the U.S.? Answer: Between 4,000 and 5,000.

What percent of these hospitals are now equipped to handle the bar code data the government has mandated be on all drugs sold to hospitals by this April? Answer: According to industry expert Ken Kleinberg, senior director of global health care for Symbol Technologies, as well as the auto-ID and bar-code task force vice chairperson for HIMSS, the leading health care IT industry organization, "Five hundred are doing it now, 500 are in process, [and] 500 will start down the road this year..."

In hospitals where bar code is used, do medication foul-ups decrease? Answer: The FDA has estimated that once the bar-code system is implemented, a half million adverse events due to medication error could be avoided over the 20 years after full implementation.

What's the hold up? Read all about it here.